


Tunnel Snake & Fire Lizard

by Ryuu



Category: Black Moon, Darkover Series - Marion Zimmer Bradley, Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey, Original Work, Shadows of the Black Moon, Star Trek
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-03-02 05:03:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 217,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2800559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryuu/pseuds/Ryuu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the distant past, before humans left their home to travel among the stars, several thousands of individuals were removed from each of eight different worlds. Some of those were modified by their captors, and returned to their respective home planets unaware of what transpired--knowing only that they had been changed.</p>
<p>Later, as humans and other species ventured forth to explore the galaxy, the augmented followed, watching how their native brethren interacted with each other--the shocks of discovery, the conflicts that arose, and the alliances that inevitably formed--just as their makers had intended. And eventually, some of those modified individuals began to encounter one another and a new source of conflicts arose. In a desperate effort to avoid the terrible fighting, a few of the augmented sought refuge by hiding in the remote and far reaches of explored space. In time, the fighting among the augmented ended, but not before much damage had been done. And in the End, a large group of the augmented was driven out from their small corner of the galaxy.</p>
<p>Now, over two millennia later, they have returned to reclaim one of their own from an isolated, lost, and forgotten colony world...called Pern....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Disclaimer; Introduction; Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:  
> This is a repost of a Trek/Pern crossover that was originally done at the AnneMcCaffreyFans.org and later at PerneseFriends.com websites.
> 
> When PF folded, several of the members there had selected this forum as the location to which we would repost our stories. However, several factors prevented my posting TS&FL, least of which was a major hard drive crash. Then there was Anne's tragic death as well as the folding of the PF site. Also, a job reassignment had me in a location with a hellishly long commute for nearly 4yrs.
> 
> Fortunately, I was able to recover all my programs & data, as well as an new assignment with a much shorter commute--so, FINALLY, here is the beginning of the revamped version of "Tunnel Snake & Fire Lizard".
> 
> In regards to the warning of Graphic Depiction of Violence, there are a few instances in later chapters, nothing much worse than what Anne would've wrote. Same for any sex/matings--although it's highly unlikely that Anne would've ever had some of those particular pairings in mind :D
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer:**

 

This is a work of Fan Fiction meant solely for the entertainment of the reader. This work is not intended in any way to usurp the ownership or infringe on the copyrighted or trademarked material and works of Pern (owned by Anne McCaffrey and family), Star Trek (owned by Paramount Studios), Darkover (owned by the estate of Marrion Zimmer Bradely), or the BlackMoon series (owned by Terrell Vance). The author of this work is not authorized by any of the mentioned authorities to make use of any of the material found here and assumes full responsibility for the following. Every effort has been made to ensure that the use of the above named copyrighted material is currently permitted for use in Fan Fiction settings. I also state that this material is not in any way being used to generate revenue for myself.

I am a fan of the above named authors, and although this is a Crossover work of Fan Fiction, I have made every effort to stay within the canons for all the affected copyrighted worlds with the exception of the actual crossover between them. I sincerely hope you, the reader, will not be disappointed.

A non-spoiler list of specific ownership of items:

The ship and crew of  _Enterprise_ , NX-01,  _USS Enterprise_ , NCC-1701, and other characters and created by the authorized agents of Paramount Studios for the Star Trek franchise belong to Paramount Studios.

The ship and crew of the  _Panthro_ , including the avatar monitors, as well as other off-Pern vessels and crew not otherwise belonging to Paramount Studios (ie Star Trek), and characters from the BlackMoon series belongs to Terrell Vance.

The world of Cotman IV (aka Darkover) and all characters and items from the Darkover series belong to the estate of Marion Zimmer Bradely.

All characters native to and/or born on Pern created by Anne McCaffrey and including those characters created by me, belong to Anne McCaffrey. She's free and welcome to use and/or kill off any and all of them :D

Also, there are lyrics to songs and references to works of fiction, too numerous to mention here at the present, that appear as "window-dressing," and are not utilized as integral parts of the story. Every effort is made to acknowledge the source within the text of this story as soon as feasibly possible. Likewise, there is no intention to usurp or infringe on the ownership/credits/origin/copyright of such material.

 

How is that for a Disclaimer?

 

**Introduction:**

 

In the distant past, before humans left their home to travel among the stars, several thousands of individuals were removed from each of eight different worlds. Some of those were modified by their captors, and returned to their respective home planets unaware of what transpired--knowing only that they had been changed.

Later, as humans and other species ventured forth to explore the galaxy, the augmented followed, watching how their native brethren interacted with each other--the shocks of discovery, the conflicts that arose, and the alliances that inevitably formed--just as their makers had intended. And eventually, some of those modified individuals began to encounter one another and a new source of conflicts arose. In a desperate effort to avoid the terrible fighting, a few of the augmented sought refuge by hiding in the remote and far reaches of explored space. In time, the fighting among the augmented ended, but not before much damage had been done. And in the End, a large group of the augmented was driven out from their small corner of the galaxy.

Now, over two millennia later, they have returned to reclaim one of their own from an isolated, lost, and forgotten colony world...called Pern....

 

**Part 1:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.14, Southern Continent:

     Young Jaxom stared in fascination at the immense jungle over which Ruth soared, accompanied by a virtual cloud of fire-lizards. They kept the coast in sight, only a couple hundred dragon-lengths away. But from this height of three hundred dragon-lengths, the jungle still extended to the horizon.

     "All this land and totally untouched by Thread!" he exclaimed. Although the dragonriders and the Masterfarmer craft had learned the reason for this miracle, it still boggled Jaxom's mind at how many grubs it must take to ensure the land's protection.

     The Benden Weyrleaders Lessa and F'lar had assured dragonrider, holder, and craftsman alike that the dragons would still fly to protect the holds even after the North was as grub protected as Southern. Jaxom wasn't worried, however. He was here, exploring, as he knew several other riders must be, just to see just how _HUGE_ this place was. As he knew, they, like he, weren't supposed to be here. This was the domain of the Oldtimers, but they never left their weyrs, certainly not to come out this far east.

     _Was that a boom of thunder?_ he wondered, looking about for the source of the sound. It confused him that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it only occurred once.

     _Jaxom?_ Ruth said to him, changing his flight suddenly to descend. _Who's that?_ Jaxom looked where his white dragon had indicated, and was as puzzled as his weyrmate.

     On a rocky outcrop poking above the trees, they saw what they first thought was a long-haired woman climbing the cliffs, inching for a cavern just below the top. Jaxom soon saw it was a man when he sighted the scraggly beard. And why was he wearing only robes? Jaxom was very surprised, for everyone who came to Southern knew the dangers lurking in these jungles.

     Indeed, only this morning, Jaxom and Ruth had an encounter with some of the dangerous felines roaming the continent. They had only just escaped without a scratch and Jaxom fervently hoped that none of the Weyrleaders would ever find out about _that_! He was supposed to be winging it around Ruatha, _NOT_ flitting about in the Southern Continent!

     "Did some felines chase him up here?" Jaxom wondered aloud as they dove to provide assistance. He was amazed, for the man didn't even have any shoes! The beasts must have driven him right out of his tent, nearly naked!

     _I don't sense any,_ Ruth said, confused. _He's not in fear because of any felines, only in falling. He seems intent upon reaching the cave._

     Just then, several rocks broke from under the man's footing, starting an avalanche that soon involved the entire cliff face. What followed, Jaxom could swear, happened in slow motion, giving him time to remember everything in detail, but not the means to act upon his perceptions.

     "Frack!" Jaxom heard the man exclaim with disgust rather than terror. He went downstream with the rocks, and Jaxom surely thought he was about to see him die. But amazingly, instead of being tangled up in the debris descending the slope, the man kept clear of the worst of the avalanche by leaping from one large boulder to another, slowing his progression. But it only afforded the man a few more moments to live, for the steep angled slide was pouring over a shear precipice more than ten dragonlengths high.

     Ruth made full use of those few moments, getting past the man to hover just beyond the rock fall. But they both felt helpless as the man continued to approach. The debris would sweep him over the final edge and to his doom. He couldn't see the dragon and his rider waiting below, as he needed to watch the boulders raining down upon him. Nor would he be able to see the sheer drop that would soon be the end of his unorthodox manner of self-preservation.

     Somehow, the man seemed to sense the very edge of the cliff and made a tremendous leap backwards away from the avalanche, spinning in mid-air, and spreading his arms out. Had he been a dragon, his wings would have caught the air and he would have flown away in safety...had he been a dragon.

     Instead, the man's scowling face suddenly expressed shock and horror when he saw he was about to collide with Ruth. So much so, that Jaxom actually heard him hiss just before the impact, not unlike those felines he and Ruth had fought this morning.

     Slamming into the base of Ruth's neck belly first, he stuck, and Jaxom couldn't help but compare the man's grip on Ruth's neck ridges to those cat claws that had nearly caught his dragon earlier.

     Ruth, surprised his rescue attempt actually worked, veered away from the rock slide, tilting to keep the man on his body, and to give Jaxom a chance to get a grip on him and haul him in. Only Jaxom couldn't get the man to let go of Ruth's neck ridges.

     "Come on!" Jaxom yelled, gripping the man's right wrist and arm with both hands. "You've got to climb up behind the saddle!" The man continued his wide-eyed stare over the dragon's neck, doubtlessly petrified of his close demise.

     "Flaming shit!" the man finally hissed, blinking back to reality. "That could've been ugly! That could've been _real_ ugly!"

     "Hurry up!" Jaxom coaxed. "Ruth can't keep this turning for long!" Already, the dragon's strong right turn was swinging his flight back to the outcropping and the avalanche.

     The man suddenly looked over Ruth, the surrounding fire-lizards, noting the direction of their flight, Jaxom, the saddle, the straps, and how his right foot had somehow found purchase in those very same bands holding the saddle in place. In a split second, Jaxom no longer had to struggle to pull the man up. Rather, the man's quick move to climb into the saddle behind the rider caused Jaxom to momentarily lose his balance.

     "Have your dragon tighten the turn, then pull out of the dive when he stalls," the man instructed, surprising the Lord Holder. Only experienced dragonriders knew that very complicated maneuver. Ruth did so, and they soared out over the trees, only a hand's breadth from the branches. Very quickly, the white dragon gained altitude by pumping his wings and was looking for a place to land.

     "I'm Ryuu," the man cheerfully introduced himself, holding his hand out to Jaxom. "Many thanks for the save, though it was totally unexpected. I never saw you there!"

     Jaxom thought it an odd way of thanking him. His smile seemed genuine.

     "What were you doing there?" Jaxom asked, shaking Ryuu's hand. For a moment, he wondered if he had interrupted a dragonless rider's suicide, but such a person wouldn't be smiling at such a save. Besides, there would be much easier ways of killing one's self.

     "Looking for a--friend," Ryuu said, his smile faded with the pause. He looked about at the three-dozen companions zipping about Ruth, frowning to himself. "A relative, actually."

     "A missing relative?" Jaxom exclaimed. "Out here? I hope he or she hasn't been missing long. This area's full of wild felines. Ruth and I first thought you had been chased up the cliffs by them." The Lord Holder glanced about, looking to see if he could spot Ryuu's missing relative. The stranger looked at Jaxom for several moments before replying.

     "No," Ryuu slowly said, pulling a slim pack from a pocket. He flipped it open and held it over Ruth's hide, hidden from Jaxom's sight. "I've not had any trouble with the big cats."

 

Fort Hold Gather:

     "I just know he's going to get in trouble dressed like that!" Sebell heard one of the strangers tell her companion. She was a very attractive individual, looking to be barely out of her teens with straight black hair, almond eyes, and very exotic features that made it difficult for him to guess her Hold.

     "You know Ryuu," said the other woman, also a very attractive young woman, but blonde and with an alluring sultry face. "He can't resist the urge to get people to stare. But he's sure to be disappointed at missing all these dragon motifs on sale in these stalls!" she laughed.

     What had attracted Sebell's attention weren't their beauty, which was considerable, but their strange accent, which was barely understandable, and their manner of dress. No hold colors, although on first glance, their fabric looked like everyone else's. It soon became apparent, however, they were strangers, and not just from out of the local holds, but _strange_ : their walk, their manner of dress, their odd speech, and their questioning everyone at the gather. _Especially their questions._

     As Sebell followed them off to the side, he noticed that others had noticed them also. Several people in fact. A group of seven rough looking individuals were following the oblivious women. Add to that, Sebell also noted that a rather large, red haired man shadowed them from the other side and had paid attention to both the men and Sebell. Sebell knew he was going to have a headache soon. This was too early in the morning for the likes of these to be up to no good, and with no riders about to help.

     "Well what the hell is he doing down there?" the first woman complained. "We're supposed to be finding this last character, and if I were him, I sure wouldn't be hiding out in such a place!"

     "Well, you're not him," the blonde woman replied, sounding as if this was an old argument they were having. "And why it's taking so long to find him is that we're not this guy. We can't anticipate where he's hiding, so we have to look everywhere!"

     "That's crazy!" the black haired woman spat. "It'll take forever to find him. We've already received the recall--" Then a look of sudden horror came upon her face. "Oh, my Gosh!" she said. Grabbing her companion's arm, she pointed. The blonde also reacted with surprise, and looked to be in a near panic.

     Sebell glanced ahead, but only saw MasterHarper Robinton's new journeyman, Menolly, accompanied by her fair of fire-lizards swirling above her. He frowned at how these two were reacting towards the sight. Could they have given Menolly trouble in the past? He remembered those holder ladies who had pestered the poor girl the first weeks of her arriving in the hall.

     "We've got to warn the others!" Sebell heard the blonde exclaim. "Those things can _hear_ us!"

     "Are you certain?" the first one asked, scared and unsure.

     "Can't you _feel_ it?" her companion asked, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. Towards the men that had been following.

     _Uh-oh!_ Sebell thought, summoning Kimi, his own fire-lizard queen, to call in the gather forces. He had hoped to wait until the ruffians had started their own attack on the women to catch this gang in the act. That was supposed to be at a place and time of the ruffians' choosing, with Sebell's forces waiting to pounce, but it looked as though these two future victims were about to disrupt everyone's plans. The women's retreat catapulted them among the surprised group of men.

     "Whoa, there, pretty ladies!" one of them cried out, grabbing the blonde's arm, halting their rush. Another had grabbed the black hair as well. "What's the rush? You don't need to go any further. We're here."

     "Let go of us!" the dark haired shouted. "We've got to get out of here!"

     "Sure," the man holding her said. "We know just the--" He stopped suddenly, with eyes bugging out and gasping in pain. Sebell didn't see it land, but he heard the blow, and he noted several people standing about winced in sympathy. But he did see the big red hair man leaping into the fray.

     "WOLF!" the blonde yelled when his feet connected with two of the ruffians' faces, dropping them. " _DRAGONS! REAL DRAGONS!_ " she finished what she was yelling. The big red haired man froze in the act of getting to his feet.

     "What?" he shouted. The pause gave one of the other ruffians time to land a punch on Red's jaw. He staggered, but then shook it off and his blue eyes got big.

     Sebell rushed forward to help at last, but by the time he got there, Red had closed with his attacker, landed at least five blows from his hands and feet, and the outlaw was down. Sebell blinked when Red suddenly whirled on him, ready to continue the fight with a new opponent. That's when Sebell noticed that all the other ruffians were also kayoed.

     "Whoa!" Sebell called, holding up his hands. "I'm Harper!"

     Just then, a full wing of fire-lizards was diving into the scene. Red visibly paled, looking at them.

     " _NO!_ " one of the women screamed and the fire-lizards suddenly all went _between_.

     "What the--?" Sebell got out, looking where his vanished reinforcements weren't anymore.

     He looked back at the three only to see them disappearing into the crowd at a full run.

     Several guards converged upon the area, materializing from among the confused crowd of gatherers, some of them from the general vicinity of where the three had escaped. Evidently, they hadn't seen the trio.

     Sebell knew he was going to have a headache soon.

     Menolly arrived at that moment along with Mirrim. Beauty, her gold fire-lizard queen was wrapped about her neck, eyes whirling rapidly. Two of Mirrim's three were on either shoulder and the third was flapping above, screeching hysterically.

     "Sebell?" she inquired, looking about in confusion. "What's going on? Beauty and the others launched off, then suddenly, she's back."

     Kimi showed up just then, settling on his shoulder. Her eyes were also whirling wildly, but her confused chirp totally baffled him.

     "What do you mean, 'is everything okay?'" he all but shouted at his queen. "Where the blazes did you go?"

     "What?" an astonished Menolly suddenly asked her gold fire-lizard. " _Who_ asked you to go away?"

 

Southern Continent:

     Ryuu stepped off Ruth as soon as they landed and stared intently at the white dragon from a few paces away. Jaxom had a hard time reading the man's expression. He had a hard time reading Ruth's as well. A kind of wariness had come over the both of them as they watched each other.

     "Ryuu?" Jaxom inquired. "Is anything wrong?" Just to be on the safe side, Jaxom unclipped the fastener holding his belt knife. He had never seen anyone behave like this around a dragon before, certainly not after being rescued like that. Nor had he ever heard of a dragon behaving like his did now. He couldn't take the chance the man might be as crazed and dangerous as those big felines.

     Despite his apparent age of mid twenties, the man wasn't much taller than the young Lord Holder. Ryuu was a thinly built man, again only slightly heavier than Jaxom. Ryuu's eyes also had a youthful look, but his wary examination of Ruth hinted at considerable experience.

     Ruth suddenly warbled in confusion, looking northeast. The fire-lizards perched in the trees also chirped their puzzlement. Ryuu snorted. He muttered something that Jaxom couldn't catch. Then he smiled and visibly relaxed when Ruth looked back at the stranger.

     "Well I do wish to thank you, Ruth and Lord Jaxom, for saving me--" Ryuu paused to regard the dragon's rider, "--a rather painful experience. I hope I didn't hurt him by landing on him that way."

     Jaxom stared in confusion, further baffled by Ruth bringing his muzzle to be petted by the stranger. The man bent down and gently kissed Ruth's nose and stood to scratch his dragon on the eye ridges, just the way Ruth liked it.

     "So might I inquire if you're a dragonrider?" Jaxom asked. The man arched his eyebrow toward him in a return inquiry.

     "Now that's an interesting question," Ryuu replied slightly smirking. "Why would you think I'm a dragon--rider?" Again, another one of those strange pauses.

     "Most people, riders included, would be about to pass out with the shakes after a save like that," Jaxom pointed out. "Although a few of us have composure like yours. Not many." Ryuu absently shrugged his shoulders while giving his full attention to the white dragon. His eyes seemed to be glazing over just as Ruth's were.

     "I've been in worse scrapes," he muttered. "Hmm, curious," Ryuu muttered as he petted the white. "Like nothing I've ever felt before. Ruth's hide has such an interesting texture."

     "But you also knew a very tough maneuver used mostly by blues and greens," Jaxom said, trying to keep the conversation on the puzzle Ryuu presented.

     The man seemed to go blank for a moment in reference to the colors of the smallest dragons. He glanced at the surrounding fair of tiny dragons and comprehension dawned on his face. Then he looked at the large one he was petting.

     "And whites, too, it would seem," Ryuu reverently supplied still lovingly working on Ruth's eye ridges. The dragon's eyes had completely lidded over and loudly voiced his pleasure at the treatment.

     "No, I'm not a--rider," Ryuu said, giving Ruth a final scratch and a kiss to his eye ridges. Jaxom felt as though he picked up a touch of regret in Ryuu's voice. The man began walking away, intending to go back into the jungle.

     "Take good care of your friend, Lord Jaxom," Ryuu was saying as he departed. "He's a real beauty. I don't think you could find a better dragon."

     "You'd better let me get you to a healer," Jaxom called out, noting Ryuu hadn't escaped the avalanche totally unscathed. There were several cuts and bruises on Ryuu's arms and legs, and he was walking with a limp, favoring his left foot that had a nasty scrape. "Those wounds will be septic in no time in this jungle." Ryuu paused to consider one of the scrapes on his right forearm.

     "It's nothing," he said, resuming his walk. "I've got to find someone."

     "Can I help?" Jaxom asked, not wanting someone he'd just saved to die from his own neglect. "You said it was a relative? What's his name? Or is it her?"

     "Don't know," Ryuu said, turning to give him an amused grin. "I'll know when I see him. Or her." Then he was gone.

     _He'd make a good rider,_ Ruth said, his eyes whirling green. Jaxom looked at his dragon in astonished trepidation.

     "He'd make a crazy one!" Jaxom said. "Just what went on with you two when we landed?"

     _We were talking,_ Ruth said.

     "Talking?" Jaxom exclaimed. "He can hear you? What about?"

     _I think he can hear all of us,_ Ruth said. _I heard someone bespeak him and he replied. I think_ they _can hear us, too._

     "Who called him?" Jaxom asked, surprised. The only ones he knew that could speak to all dragons were Lessa and Brekke. And at a _distance_? And to other _people_? He had never heard of _that_!

     _I don't know,_ Ruth replied. _Someone called him to say 'Ryuu! Everyone! There are dragons here! They can hear us!' and Ryuu said, 'Yes, thanks. I think I just found some.' Isn't that odd?_ he asked Jaxom, tilting his head.

     "From what I've been allowed to hear between you dragons, no," Jaxom muttered. "Between people, I'd have to say yes."

 

Ista Hold:

     The sun and weather was much like the home on his native world. Hot, with mild humidity due to the sea breezes, bright clear blue skies, just ripe for stretching one's wings and soaring high above the land and ocean.

     Only the body that T'khill possessed had no pinioned wings, no feathers covering his skin to be tugged by the breeze, and no hollow bones to lighten his frame. And his nearly useless eyes had trouble making out even large objects only just ten thousand horamters away, whereas he'd normally be able to read a book that far away. He was uncomfortably distressed in the very environment in which he should feel most at home. It made him feel soiled as every effort, including simply standing still. And it made rivers of liquid pour from places he'd rather not think about. And his sweat made him stink, even to his own scent-blind human nostrils.

     "I think I chose unwisely," he muttered to M'leer standing beside him.

     "Q'Rrt?" she asked, surprised. "How so?" He glanced at the slim young woman. _In human standards, would this be attractive?_ he wondered. One could never tell about mammalian aesthetic parameters. But then, this wasn't M'leer's native form, either. Hers was felinoid. And while still below his native abilities, her species did possess senses and abilities more on par with what he was used to.

     "I expected this environment to be more to my liking," he said, looking east out over the sea. "And had I my native form, it would be so. However, this..." he gestured to his body, leaving the sentence unfinished.

     "Well, therre might be imprrovement," she said. "It looks to be a storrm coming. It should cool things off a bit." Glancing at her, he considered how she seemed to be able to carry much of her feline nature over to whatever form she took, unlike everyone else. Her speech pattern, the set of her eyes, her walk.

     Just then, they heard Puma send out, telepathically, _'Ryuu! Everyone! There are dragons here! They can hear us!'_ She sounded panicked.

     _'Yeah, thanks. I think I just found some,'_ Ryuu responded with his own broadcast. He sounded sarcastic.

     "What was that about?" T'khill and M'leer asked each other. Then M'leer chuckled.

     "Leave it Rryuu to find cats orr drragons wherreeverr we go," she said.

     "Don't you find his obsessions somewhat--odd?" he asked. She shrugged her shoulders.

     "Everryone has to have theirr hobby," M'leer muttered. "I met him about a centurry-and-a-half beforre you did. Back then, I found him--enterrtaining," she finished with a wispy smile. Then she frowned at the storm.

     "Isn't that's an odd behaviorr forr the lightning to take?" she asked. T'khill steadied his eyes on the scene, cursing such useless human senses. If it weren't for Ryuu's order to stay human on the colony, he would've already identified what was going on when the clouds first appeared on the horizon. Instead, he had to wait for the storm to get right on top of...

     "That's no storm!" he suddenly announced. "And those must be Ryuu's dragons!"

     "They'rre flaming that stuff!" M'leer exclaimed.

     "Come on!" T'khill shouted, grabbing her arm. "We've got to find shelter!" They took off running for the settlement they had scoped out the last couple of days.

     As they approached, they saw the closed doors of the provincial capitol open and several soldiers march out, armed with what looked like flame-throwers.

     "Got caught out in Fall, eh?" the leader of the troops asked when they slowed their approach.

     "Yes," T'khill said, smiling stiffly. He wasn't used to having facial muscles in those locations, yet. "I'm afraid so. My ma--wife and I were hoping to take shelter here."

     "Talk with my Ward Holder inside," the man said, pointing.

     "Thank you, sirr," M'leer said. "And yourr name?"

     "My! You have such a pretty sounding voice!" he exclaimed. "I've never heard that accent before! I'm Warbret, Lord Holder of Ista. Where are you folk from?"

     "High Rreaches," M'leer spoke up before T'khill could respond. He gave her a puzzled look.

     "I am T'khill and this is my wife, M'leer," T'khill said, trying to recover the proper order of introductions.

     "Well, T'khill, unfortunately, I'm going to be a little--" Warbret stopped and looked around in confusion. "Could I ask you where's your dragon? And what did you say you're wife's name is, again?"

 

Harperhall:

     Sebell, Menolly, and Mirrim stood before Robinton giving their report.

     "At first, I thought she was shouting 'Wolf' in panic," Sebell said, concluding. "Only the more I look back, that could've been big Red's name. The only other name I heard them mention was someone apparently not there called 'Ryuu'."

     "To be honest, I have an odd feeling they had plans of their own that included those ruffians," Sebell added as Robinton digested the news. "It was when they saw Menolly that those women panicked and tossed everyone's plans, theirs included, into the necessary."

     "Maybe it wasn't me," Menolly said, shaking her head as she looked at the sketches of the three. She didn't recognize them. "It could've been Mirrim. She was with me the whole time."

     "Nobody I ever saw before," Mirrim said, looking equally helpless.

     "I don't think it was either of you," Robinton said, stroking his bronze sitting on his lap. " _He,_ " the MasterHarper stressed, indicating his fire-lizard, "went to aid you same as Menolly's and Mirrim's, and instantly came back, saying he was asked to leave."

     "Who asked them?" Menolly asked, still puzzled by the whole event.

     "Her," Robinton said, pointing at the sketch of the blonde.

     "So what happens to the ruffians?" Mirrim asked.

     "Groghe sent them to the mines for a year for the trouble they caused," Sebell replied. "They're still protesting their innocence, saying they were attacked. But that didn't weigh with Groghe when it was clear they were trying to force the women to go where they clearly didn't want. Big Red may have been their relative, or an accomplice coming to their rescue. Besides, we had the other victims from yesterday to speak against them."

     "Interesting that we seem to have one group of ruffians preying on another with themselves as bait," Menolly said. "Only a year will have those guys out just in time for the next Spring Gather."

     "Well this other group certainly didn't like our fire-lizards," Sebell said. "And the fire-lizards didn't like them, either. But I've never seen them just leave like that!"

     "Well Fort's abuzz because someone saw those three sneaking in during the distractions," Robinton said. "They buttoned up tight and are searching, but have found nothing yet."

 

Southern Continent:

     Ryuu picked his way carefully through the brush. He needed to get some distance from those two before signaling the others. He stepped out into another clearing.

     "Oops," he quietly muttered, seeing the pride of mixed big cats, some spotted, some striped, arrayed about the area. They all saw him the same instant and leapt to their feet and began stalking him.

     "Easy, fellas," he said, trying to calm them down. "I'm a friend."

     He tried using his special abilities to reach the felines. Abilities, which were enabled during a visit to a small planet where one of _THEM_ , a powerfully advanced species, Ryuu's very own creators, had lost a childhood toy. That ancient artifact had been used to destroy a thriving civilization, and nearly ended his crew's existence. The repercussions of that event, however, allowed him to communicate with felines in any form he took. Only these cats weren't responding.

     One of the lions leapt for him, and Ryuu had only just time to use his left hand to press into his right forearm, activating the subcutaneous transponder. Then he was down, with the big cat savaging his whole left shoulder and claws raking his legs and chest.

     There was a bright flash incinerating both cat and man. A roaring fifteen-meter long gold dragon instantly replaced Ryuu's body. He spun about, whipping his tail to ward off the attacks from the other felines. If the transformation surprised the remaining panthers, they didn't give any indication it affected them. They continued their attack, leaping upon the gold dragon.

     Ryuu caught one lioness with his hand, his huge talons gripping the animal around her chest. He didn't want to hurt them, but he was forced to use his full strength in blows from his tail and wings to keep them at bay. A couple of tigers had leapt to his back and he had to use his three remaining limbs to dance and whirl about, trying to dislodge them, while the lioness he held tried to bite at his arm, her back feet raking at his forearm. Fortunately, his scales were considerably tougher than the hide of the white dragon he had just met, but that didn't mean he was out of danger.

     As a dragon, his considerable telepathic abilities were unleashed. But even this was ineffective against the panthers. He was very puzzled by that. He had tried to get across to them that he wasn't their enemy or food, but he couldn't get through. Ryuu even tried using his stored memories of pain from killed prey and enemies to shock the cats to their senses, but something was actually blocking him from reaching them!

     A black leopard suddenly materialized among the fight, but didn't join the attack against the dragon. Instead, even as another black cat leapt at the newcomer, orange light flared from the panther's eyes, lancing out to strike each of the cats attacking Ryuu, stunning them all. The black panther that leapt on the newcomer got an electric jolt that threw the flesh and blood animal off.

     The dragon released the comatose lioness he had been gripping and shook off the unconscious cats from his back. With a shuddering breath, Ryuu triggered the Gateway, changing his form back to that of human in a flash of intense radiation. His panther rushed up to take his left arm in its mouth. Ryuu gave it a glance as Pardus' fangs bit down, breaking the skin to inject a replacement transponder before releasing him.

     "Be careful!" he said, snarling. "The subspace distortions on this planet keeps us from locating you without those transponders."

     A transporter effect beside him materialized a replacement set of robes for him.

     "What happened?" the male avatar inquired as Ryuu dressed.

     "I don't know, Pardus," Ryuu replied when he finished. He knelt down to take the lioness's head in his hands. "I came across this pride when I was looking for a place to signal beam up. They attacked."

     "B-but th-they're _cats_! They _never_ attack!" the panther exclaimed.

     "My God!" Ryuu exclaimed, setting the feline's head back down. "They're telepathic! Somebody's modified them to be telepathic!" His panther's eyes grew wide in dread as it laid its ears back while he took a closer look for himself.

     "My scans are detecting genetic damage from Mentasynth!" Pardus hissed. "This specie doesn't have the natural blocks for processing their prey's pain, not like your dragon forms! They would feel their prey's agony as their own!"

     "These poor creatures are totally insane!" Ryuu cried in horror. His panther whirled about.

     "Company's coming!" he snarled. Ryuu quickly stood. "Looks like your new friends."

     "I took some injuries from being caught in an avalanche," Ryuu quickly said. "Mostly minor scrapes and cuts on my arms and legs. And a messy wound to my left foot."

     Green light flared from the panther's eyes and Ryuu quickly had fresh wounds from the cat's weapons to simulate the rock fall cuts. Unfortunately, none of the dust remained from his accident, but he hoped it wouldn't be missed.

     By the time Ruth and Jaxom appeared over the clearing, the artificial life form joined the other cats in playing dead.

     "By the Egg!" Jaxom exclaimed looking about when they landed. The small fire-lizards zipped about the clearing, excitedly screeching in alarm. Ryuu quickly walked toward Ruth and Jaxom, emphasizing a limp, to keep the dragon and rider at a distance.

     "If you don't mind, Lord Jaxom," Ryuu cheerfully said, "I think I'll take you up on that offer to go to the healer. Good to see you again, Ruth," he genuinely greeted the dragon reaching up to caress his muzzle.

     "How did you--?" Jaxom began as he moved to dismount and take a closer look at the scene. He was stopped when Ryuu stepped in his way, raising his left arm.

     " _Please_ , Lord Jaxom," Ryuu begged. "Can we just leave?" Jaxom looked at the bite wound on his forearm, and he itched to find out how, unarmed, Ryuu could've fought all those felines with only one bite to show for it. But there was a strange sadness in the man's eyes that convinced Jaxom not to press for answers.

     He helped Ryuu climb up and set the straps as best he could.

     "I'm afraid you're not dressed for going _between_ ," Jaxom said. "We'll try to be as brief as possible."

     "Thank you," Ryuu whispered, pulling out a replacement scanner, flipped it open, and started to take new readings from the dragon while the rider was unaware.

     After Ruth had risen, taking his small companions with him and teleported away, one of the "dead" panthers vanished with the transporter effect.

 

Ista Hold:

     T'khill and M'leer looked at each other in utter confusion as their cell door slammed shut and they were locked in.

     " _What the f'Rrishiss did you tell him_?" M'leer demanded once the guards left the corridor.

     "What did _I_ say?" T'khill asked, totally baffled. "You were there! What does he mean 'impersonating a dragonrider'?"

     "I don't know," M'leer said, stalking about, looking for a way out. "But he said he'd be back in a couple of hourrs to deal with us. We'd betterr find a way to escape and be away from herre beforre then. Afterrwarrd, we can take the time to analyze what we did wrrong."

     They suddenly felt an electric jolt shoot through them that had nothing to do with the shock of being imprisoned.

     "Someone's used the Gateway," M'leer said.

     T'khill examined the door to their cell. It looked depressingly solid and strong.

     A few minutes later, they felt a second jolt.

     _Who's using the Gateway?_ M'leer broadcast.

     _That was me,_ Ryuu sent privately. _Ran into a small problem. It's fixed now._

     "How does Ryuu get away with it?" T'khill finally muttered. His question brought M'leer up short.

     "What?" she asked.

     "I'm puzzled," he said. "Ryuu often gets into situations like this, but only when he wants to go to confinement. Other times, he goes his own happy path."

     "That's: 'he goes his own merrry way'," M'leer corrected him. "But you have a point. Rryuu goes to jail only when he wishes it. And then, he always has an escape rroute."

     "But we didn't plan for this," T'khill countered. "And we don't have an evasion road."

     "Yes, we do," M'leer said, pulling out her phaser.

     The device was an innocuous looking blob, shaped vaguely like a flattened teardrop a little larger than her thumb. The point of the teardrop was the business end, it had a pad for reading her thumbprint, and had circuitry to receive instructions from thought.

     When they were searched for weapons, the devices and their communicators were overlooked as personal ornaments unlike anything the Colonists had seen before. Only their hand scanners, being slim metal cases that conceivably could be hammered into a knife or other instrument, were confiscated.

     T'khill heard the weapon's whine climb for the charge she ordered as she aimed at the door.

     "Wait," he said, placing his hand on her arm. "There's a more silent power dive we can fly."

     "You mean a morre subtle apprroach?" she asked. He smiled, stiffly.

     " _Panthro_ ," he said, activating his communicator. "Two to transport."

     "What about the hand scannerrs?" M'leer asked as the transport effect absorbed them.

     A few moments later, the guards looked about in confusion as they heard humming, like that of fire-lizards or dragons at a Hatching, build in volume then fade. They never saw the scanners vanish in a cloud of sparks from inside the closed drawer.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "What are you doing up here?" Wolf asked when they appeared on platform. Puma and Arye were also there.

     "That's what we're trying to solve," T'khill said.

     "We werre arrrsted for imperrsonating drragon rriderrs," M'leer growled.

     "Dragonriders?" Wolf exclaimed, incredulous. "They've got people to _ride_ those things?"

     "Maybe those were the babies," Arye suggested.

     "How about--" Then M'leer suddenly gasped. They all did.

     "The Gateway!" Arye whispered in horror. "What happened to the Gateway?"

     "It's back now!" Wolf exclaimed the moment the sensation ended.

     Just then, the transporter activated and Pardus materialized in a supine state. He quickly stood to walk toward them.

     "So where's Ryuu?" Wolf asked. "And the Gateway just went kablooee for a few moments."

     "He couldn't avoid being picked up by the dragon he encountered," the panther reported. "You said all yours were small?"

     "About the same size as our small forms, not much larger than house cats," Wolf said.

     "This white one was about as large as Ryuu's largest dragon form . . . maybe just a little smaller," Pardus said. "I believe they're different, but related species. They teleported, too. Those creatures seem to be the source of the subspace distortions. I've given the ship my sensor readings on them. It's reporting there are hundreds of thousands of such subspace events occurring all over the planet. There do seem to be localized concentrations of them in the northern continent, but it's a totally smooth distribution on the southern."

     "Ryuu's clothing styles are going to give the mission a hard time," Wolf growled.

     "Also, the big cats, that white dragon, and his young rider are showing signs of Mentasynth poisoning," the panther added. "Interestingly, only some of the smaller specimens are showing any signs of the drug."

     "Mentasynth?" Arye asked, puzzled. "I've never heard of that."

     "It was a substance outlawed thousands of years ago," the panther explained. "It induces genetic damage, making the offspring of telepathically capable individuals develop even stronger abilities. Evidently, the colonists had used it on themselves and the natives."

     "Could it be the cause of the ecological disaster that hit the colony?" Puma asked.

     "Uncertain," the panther said after a moment to consider. "Based on the current planetary orbits, the Oort cloud debris would have begun about a hundred sixty years after the colony is believed to have arrived. Kit Ping Yung was ancient when they should've arrived. She was one of the technicians who urged the Federation to outlaw the substance. It is possible she, or another, had unleashed something on the colony.

     "However, there are fragmentary records about a rescue of the Rukbat colony only about fifty years after their arrival," Pardus continued. "Of over 6300 colonists, only a handful were ever located and removed. It had been presumed that the rest had succumbed to the disaster.

     "Under what reason for developing such an illegal drug, when the one person who had knowledge would likely rather to have gone to her grave with the secret than let it loose," the panther finished, shaking its head. "Too many variables. Too many unanswered questions. We will have to locate the colony database if we hope to find any answers."

     "But the recall," Wolf said. "It doesn't give us much time. Plus, we have to locate our member who came here. We can't take time to look for Ryuu's questions."

     "I may have a copy of Ryuu's mind," the panther snarled in annoyance at him, "but I am nearly three thousand years removed from when that copy was made! These are my _own_ questions! Besides, your own monitors, who are copies of _your_ minds, have the same questions. And _we_ want answers! You all can go stuff your recall! Besides, with the database, we would be a little closer to identifying, and thereby locating, your long lost crewman."

     "Well, we've got something else to worry about," Wolf said. "T'khill and M'leer reported they were arrested a short while ago, charged with impersonating dragonriders. Now I don't know what kind of society this world has, but we're going to have lots of problems if we get tripped up on something we haven't a clue about."

     Pardus sat down and rocked as he took a breath, simulating a sigh.

     " _Panthro_ ," the panther spoke out, "have you been monitoring the crew's environment through their communicators and scanners?"

     "Visual recordings are sporadic and limited," the ship's computer replied. "Audio is more complete. I'll begin analyzing what I heard from T'khill and M'leer's communicators to determine where they crossed a taboo event."

 

Fort Hold Gather:

     From his conversation with the white, Ryuu knew the dimension was supposed to be black, empty, airless, and colder than space. His human senses were totally convinced at what the dragon told him was true. However, he had other senses, and they told him it was anything _but!_

     He spent the few seconds looking about wildly, astonished by what he "saw." Ruth suddenly looked back over his shoulder at him, his eyes whirling in alarm.

     _You see_ nothing _!_ Ruth firmly told him. _There is nothing_ between _!_

     Ryuu looked pointedly at the white dragon over Jaxom's shoulder. The human rider was not privy to that conversation.

     Suddenly, they burst into the air above the provincial capitol Wolf, Puma, and Arye had been exploring before they discovered the dragons.

     "Ri-i-ight," Ryuu slowly drawled with a hiss, trying to suppress his shivering. But he knew he needed no questions. The answers were all in that subspace dimension they called _between_.

     _THEY_ had their hands, or claws, in this somehow. Only _THEIR_ technology can affect _THEIR_ technology. And because temporal dislocation is a major variable in subspace, the trip had momentarily disabled his connection with the Gateway. It could explain a good deal of those sporadic disruptions over the past two and a half millennia.

     Ruth was suddenly surrounded by nearly a hundred smaller and more colorful versions of the white. Ryuu chuckled as the small ones greeted the white. He had also learned from Ruth the natives were called "fire-lizards."

     Ruth suddenly bugled out, and Ryuu heard him call to another named "Lioth." He turned to look and his eyes grew wide with alarm.

     While Ryuu and his people could take the forms of several thousand different life forms in an instant, three of the forms they could assume were dragons in three different sizes. And although most of his crew had their largest size three or four times bigger than this white one, Ryuu's own largest form wasn't much larger than the white's.

     The creature had just launched into the air and flew past Ruth, seemingly made of metallic bronze, was every bit as large as Wolf's red dragon or Arye's gold form, if not larger! And Lioth was just _one of dozens_ of other such creatures just about to land on the heights above the settlement.

     "Now _that's_ a honking big fire-lizard!" he exclaimed. Jaxom whirled at the old insulting reference, but quickly saw Ryuu wasn't speaking of his dragon. He had to hold himself from bursting out laughing that anyone would call a bronze dragon a fire-lizard!

     Then Jaxom frowned. There was something very odd about this Ryuu, he thought. Not just one, but several pieces that didn't fit.

     "You've never seen a dragon, before?" Jaxom asked.

     Ryuu carefully regarded the rider before answering.

     "No bronzes like him this close up," the man replied truthfully.

     "So what hold are you from?" Jaxom asked as Ruth came in for a landing. Ryuu frowned, pausing in his clandestine scanning of the distant dragon, knowing this was coming.

     "Half-Circle Sea Hold, Nerat," he flatly stated. "Haven't been there in ages, though." He knew that they would soon find that was a lie, but he had chosen that location for its distance from this end of the continent. However, with these dragons able to teleport from one side of the planet to the other in seconds, his lie would soon be too easily shot down.

     Jaxom however had his own concerns as his dragon came in to land.

     "Ryuu, could I ask you a favor?" Jaxom asked him.

     "Well, you're the one rescuing me! I guess I owe you a few," Ryuu said, laughing. He had to wait for Ruth to settle on the ground. "I hope I can help. What can I do you for?"

     "Could you not mention that we met in Southern?" Jaxom asked as he undid his belt straps. "If the subject comes up, could you let me explain?"

     "Sure," Ryuu agreed, smiling as he stepped off the white dragon. "I'm the epitome of discretion."

 

     "Don't worry, Farli," Robinton said, stroking the fire-lizard's neck. Sebell sat there with Kimi, watching them. "Piemur will be here soon. Trust N'ton and Lioth."

     Zair suddenly reappeared, having delivered his message to the dragonrider, and the three fire-lizards happily greeted each other by buzzing about the room and zipping out the window to continue their play.

     "So what's Piemur doing requesting a recall?" Sebell asked.

     The old Harper pulled out his charts of the Southern Continent. He studied the region almost due south of Benden. "I'm wondering that, myself." A sudden knock on the door interrupted his perusal.

      "That can't be Piemur already," Robinton said at the same time as Sebell added, "Piemur never knocks!" Without any more discussion, Sebell scooped up the charts and ducked into Robinton's private chambers, closing the door behind him.

     "Jaxom!" Robinton greeted as he opened the hallway door, ushering the Lord Holder into the office. "Couldn't stay away from the Gather, could you?"

     "Not that I've been meaning to," Jaxom said, taking the MasterHarper's hand. "MasterHarper, can I ask you to keep a secret?"

     "My young Lord Holder," Robinton said, smiling at him, "I'm the epitome of discretion." Jaxom stared at him for several moments. "It means I can keep a secret," Robinton finally whispered. The young Lord Holder shuddered at some inner thoughts.

     "I know I'm not supposed to be going down there," Jaxom whispered, looking about Robinton's office, "but I've been exploring South with Ruth."

     "Oh! I see," Robinton said, feigning shock.

     "While I was down there, I came across a very unusual man." The nature of their conversation greatly disturbed the old Harper. When word came of the impending hatching at Ista, Robinton sadly had to decline to attend.

 

     As Jaxom and Robinton talked, N'ton and Lioth returned with Piemur.

     "Many thanks, N'ton!" the Journeyman Harper said as he dismounted.

     "My pleasure, Piemur!" N'ton said, getting down as well. "I can't believe how far you've traveled. If you're not careful, you're going to circle the whole continent and end up back at the Weyr!"

     "Well, don't tell anyone," Piemur whispered, "but that's kind of what I'm hoping to do!"

     The young Harper was puzzled by Robinton's absence. He'd rarely ever failed to be there when he arrived to get Piemur's report as soon as possible. He headed for the Harperhall as N'ton set out to return to the Gather.

     Lioth, left on his own, leapt for the heights to be with his friends, including Ruth.

     When he landed, the two dragons had a conversation that greatly disturbed them.

 

     Piemur was moving fairly quickly when he reached Robinton's door. Only he didn't expect it to be locked, and he slammed into it, making a loud boom that startled Robinton and Jaxom inside.

     Robinton opened it to see him holding his face.

     "Oh, there you are, Piemur! You were supposed to be here an hour ago!" he scolded. The young Journeyman looked at his mentor with surprise. Robinton kept shifting his eyes to look at a side door in the passage. "I'm sorry, but something's come up. You go on and get something to eat, and I'll be with you shortly." Robinton closed the door and noisily locked it.

     "I'm sorry, Lord Jaxom," he said. "Where were we?"

     Piemur quietly slipped into Robinton's private chambers and made his way to the door separating his office from his living quarters. Sebell was already there, sitting by a slot built into the wall for passing notes. The young master motioned Piemur to be quiet and sit with him to listen.

     As he listened in on the conversation in the adjoining room, Piemur tried to make sense of what he was hearing about Jaxom's rescue of someone from a group of big felines. He'd seen the clearing himself, and itched to tell Sebell what happened after Jaxom had left. Sebell cut off his attempt by redirecting his attention to the conversation.

     "In the interest of discretion," Robinton was saying, "you may leave him in our care. Wouldn't want anyone asking how you met, right? How would it look if word got out that the Ruatha Lord Holder retrieved a dissident from the South?"

     Their voices faded as the two men said their farewells, and then Piemur heard footsteps approaching. He pulled back just as the door opened to reveal Robinton standing there.

     "Weren't you two taught not to listen to other peoples conversations?" Robinton snapped at them.

     "I nearly broke my nose on that door!" Piemur complained. Robinton chuckled.

     "Serves you right!" he said. "How much did you catch?"

     "From the part about him and Ruth coming across that group of felines Ryuu killed."

     "They must've been almost on top of you," Robinton observed.

     "They were!" Piemur said looking at both senior harpers. "I had the wherry of a time keeping Farli from going to say 'hi' to Ruth. But back to the subject, those felines weren't dead! Not until I killed them!"

     " _You?_ " Sebell exclaimed.

     "As I was saying," Piemur began, "I was so busy fighting Farli, and Stupid was worried about Ruth showing up, that none of us knew we were that close to that cluster of big felines.

     "Suddenly, there was this strange flash of light through the trees and sounds of this horrendous fight going on for a couple of minutes and Farli's eyes were whirling white! Then it got quiet. There was another flash of light, and I thought I heard voices. Then Farli said Ruth showed up again. I heard Jaxom talking with Ryuu, and then they left.

     "I stepped out into the clearing and saw all those dead felines!" he said with a shudder.

     "I thought you said they weren't dead," Sebell pointed out. "But that you killed them."

     "Well I can see why Jaxom thought they were," Piemur explained. "When I first saw them, I thought so, too. Only there wasn't a mark on them. I couldn't tell how they were killed. I was puzzling that out when I saw them all start to stir! I had only enough time to use my knife to finish them off before they woke up! When I was able to calm down again, I checked them all. The only wounds they had were from my knife!"

     "Then what did he do to the felines?" Robinton asked.

     "I've no idea," Piemur replied. "Although, it might have been something he got from an ancient settlement I located nearby."

     "Come again?" Robinton demanded. His thoughts slipped back on some of the discussions he'd had with the Journeyman for holding back crucial information when making reports to the MasterHarper. _Sometimes,_ he considered, _young Piemur did that on purpose just for the sheer entertainment value. No,_ he corrected himself. _Not 'sometimes'._

     "I came across a shelter by the seashore that could only have been an ancient settlement," Piemur explained. "I was about to send for a retrieval when Jaxom and Ruth showed up. Naturally, I went to see what they were up to. That's how I ended up sending for N'ton."

     "The settlement, young Piemur," Robinton growled.

     "Well, while I was there, I found some devices I can't begin to explain, including something that might have made a flash like I saw through the trees and injured those felines."

     "How so?" Robinton asked.

     "Well, it was a bit longer than a belt knife," Piemur explained. "There was a grip for the hand and a trigger. When I tested it, it made a flash. And a hole in the wall as big as a dragon."

     Robinton's eyes got nearly as big as a dragon's. So did Sebell's.

     "And this Ryuu character might have something like that?" Sebell exclaimed. "Do you still have the one you found?"

     "Well, uh-no," Piemur meekly replied. "When I saw the hole that thing made, I dropped it."

     "Did you break it?" Robinton demanded.

     "Uh-I'm afraid more than broke it," Piemur said, gulping. "It started making some strange noise that got so bad that Farli and Stupid bolted out of there. I ran after them, and got out of the shelter just before it vanished in an explosion and a flash of light."

     "We better check this Ryuu out!" Sebell said to Robinton.

     "Jaxom said he's with Oldive," Robinton said. "Let's go."

     _And I think he can see what is_ between _!_ Ruth was telling Lioth about half an hour later.

     _There is nothing_ between _!_ Lioth exclaimed.

     _Yes,_ Ruth agreed, _but he can still_ see _it! And he can_ hear _us! So can others! They speak to him!_

     Ryuu sat beneath the ministrations of a couple of healers as he listened to the dragons discussing him.

     _Do you think he is dangerous?_ Lioth asked.

     "So how did you come to be like this?" MasterHealer Oldive asked bandaging his foot, distracting him from the dragons.

     "Got chased up a cliff by some cats," Ryuu gamely replied.

     "The felines give you problems in the south?" Oldive asked.

     "No, no problems," Ryuu answered gamely. "The cats chase me, I run, they don't catch me," Ryuu explained, grinning. "No problem!" The Pernese man snorted.

     "Well, I'd say you're very lucky nothing's broke," Oldive told him, straightening up after he finished. "That should do you," the MasterHealer announced, clapping Ryuu's shoulder.

     "I'm really grateful to you for patching me up, Doc," Ryuu said.

     "Oldive," the MasterHealer corrected.

     "Oldive," Ryuu repeated, grinning. "And seeing as your clothes are in tatters, I'll see if Silvina can spare any from her stores."

     "I'm sorry," Ryuu apologized. "I don't have any way to pay you for this. My money went with my camp."

     "I'm sure we'll find some way," a rich baritone voice said as two new arrivals stepped in. The owner of the voice was a tall man in a rich blue uniform, his high rank evident by the knotted rope over one shoulder. He had quite a handsome face and thick silvery hair and had very commanding charisma.

     He was smiling to reduce any sting his words might cause, but there wasn't any mistaking this man wasn't someone to trifle with, despite the laugh lines etched in his face from decades of genuine smiles. His eyes, bright as they were, were quite shrewd.

     The other man to show up clearly wasn't as old as the first stranger but still older than the white rider. His eyes held a strong suspicion as they bore into Ryuu. This one, Ryuu knew already: his compatriots had passed him information on how he had been shadowing them through the fair.

     Additionally, there were those small dragons, fire-lizards, Ryuu corrected himself, on their shoulders, staring at him with eyes whirling orange with excitement. This was no casual encounter, Ryuu knew. These men intentionally brought the creatures because of the reactions his friends had. He smiled as genuinely as he could in return.

     _I love the white one,_ Ryuu sent to the fire-lizards, knowing they were the keys to relax these newcomers. _Ruth's my friend. I love you. Will you be my friends?_

     With a surprising chirp, both fire-lizards launched themselves from both men's shoulders and flew to Ryuu, landing in his lap.

     "Hi there!" he said to them, very pleased by their acceptance. "You must be Zair and Kimi," he affectionately greeted them. "Do you know Ruth? I just met him. I like him a lot." The two Harpers were startled by how the meeting went in such an unexpected direction.

     "Well, if there's anything I can do for you," Ryuu said, looking up at them, "please let me know. I can't guarantee anything, but I'll do my best."

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     A short while later, the doors to the Bridge opened and Panthera, one of Ryuu's two black panthers, padded out.

     "I think we've found out what you and M'leer did," she told T'khill and M'leer. Arye was there as well. "You met a man named Warbret. His vocal stress levels went off the scale when you told him your names and when you responded you had no dragon."

     "What does that have to do with why we were arrested?" he asked.

     " _Panthro_ 's been monitoring the others on the planet, and we've found a pattern," Panthera explained. "What you call the K'taQ in your name and the H'Rrahl in Caitians occurs in the names of only a few of the Colonists. We've been able to identify those individuals as being dragonriders. And we've isolated where on the planet they are staying." The image on the main monitor switched from showing the wide-angle view of the planet they orbited to a tight aerial shot of a settlement built in a dormant volcano's bowl.

     "These appear to be regional capitols, called Weyrs," Panthera explained. "This location is near Ista Hold. And there's unusually severe subspace distortions in these Weyrs. Evidently, this is caused by the dragons lairing there. However, this one seems to be relatively open at this moment. We're detecting the creatures are engaged with the cometary debris falling through the atmosphere over the island."

     "Is that what we saw as grray and silverr thrreads?" M'leer asked.

     "Affirmative," Panthera said, turning toward the doors. Her motions indicated she wished them to follow her. As the elevator took them to the Transporter Room, she explained, "The gravitational and magnetic fields of the Rogue planet has drawn in debris from the System Oort Cloud. Much of this debris, however, is _not_ normal cometary material. Rather, it consists of life forms native to open space. Species 42984, the Ch'les'tol."

     "The Ch'les'tol?" M'leer exclaimed. "But they can't surrvive this close to a starr! The heat would kill them!"

     "Indeed, these individuals are brain-dead," Panthera agreed. "Their bodies are in a vegetative state, and their hard outer shells burn up as they enter the planet's atmosphere. What you saw raining down on the planet were the creature's digestive tracts and other organs, freed from their carcasses."

     "Squit!" T'khill cursed in sickened horror. "So what do you wish us to do?" he asked when the lift's doors opened.

     "Taking this opportunity, I suggest you infiltrate the Weyr while the dragons are away and it's safe to transport." They met the other artificial life forms approaching the Transporter Room and entered.

     Puma's eyes widened in surprise when the Noah's Ark Menagerie, as the collection of artificial life forms were sometimes called, came filing into the transporter room, led by her own giant anaconda-sized cobras.

     "Whoa!" she exclaimed. "What's going on here?"

     "Given the hazards of the southern continent, it would be wise for us to search there," Pardus replied, "while you search the north. And since there's two of us for every one of you, it triples our chances. In addition, we don't have to worry about losing our transponders if we get in trouble. And we don't have to worry about getting chewed up when we do get in trouble."

     "He's got a point," Wolf said, taking the moment to pet his old companions, a pair of timber wolves.

     "What about the units this fellow has to have had?" Arye asked. "Surely they must have heard our calls by now."

     "They could be damaged or destroyed," her falcon replied. "There's been no response."

     "They may even be hiding as well, suspicious of our intentions," added one of Wolf's units.

     "I just hope this isn't going to be another 'Let's get involved with the local politics' issue," Puma spat. "Ryuu is always trying to help with such matters."

     "We'll try to keep him in line when we see him," Pardus said, stepping onto the transporter pad. "But I think you'll be in a better position to handle that. He's located in that provincial capitol you just left."

     "M'leer and I are going to try again," T'khill told Puma as the members of the Menagerie took their turns transporting out. "Panthera found there's an opening in one of the regional capitols for beaming in while the dragons are away."

     "Alright," she said, checking the location on the monitor system. "Be careful. Have you found out what got you in trouble, yet?"

     "Yes," he replied. "M'leer and I will have to adjust our names to Takhill and Maleer."

 

Healercraft Hall:

     "Well, are you decent, yet?" Wolf's voice impatiently demanded. Ryuu smiled, having just taken off his robe to dress in the clothes provided. The colonists had just finished their interview and left to allow him to change.

     "You guys must have left quiet an impression," Ryuu shot back to the communicator hidden in one of the robe's pockets. "I do believe the Prime Directive says we're not to disturb the locals as much as we can avoid it. What the hell did you do to spin them up?"

     He held up the undergarments, trying to determine how they were supposed to be worn. He thought the Fashion Industry had been obliterated in the mid-Twenty-first Century. Looking at this, he figured the colony must've reintroduced that insanity into the gene pool. _Mentasynth? Going Medieval and Feudal? Now this? What's going on here?_

     "We were about to acquire some information from some locals," Wolf responded. "We had a few of the seedier people who wouldn't be missed all lined up for interrogation when we suddenly came across something that wasn't supposed to be on this rock!"

     "Well, as it turns out, they _are_ supposed to be here," Ryuu said. "It's the humans and other critters from Terra that's questionable. So what, you tried the old feminine bait routine? Shame on you! What would your moms think of that? Now I found the natives to be a much more informative bunch. You ought to try it once in a while."

     "And _I_ do believe we're supposed to be _looking_ for somebody," Puma cut in, " _not_ trying to get a date with the local, indigenous life-forms!"

     "Well, you tell me how we're supposed to find this guy when our hand scanners are limited to only a hundred horamters, or less when these dragons are about," Ryuu snarled back.

     "So stop fraternizing with the lizards and concentrate on finding our long lost crewman!" Puma snapped.

     "Let me ask you," Ryuu said, paused as he was putting on his trousers. "Have you forgotten how _long_ this guy's been here? Maybe something on the order of twenty-five centuries? Now given what all the thousands of different critters that _we_ can turn into, don't you think there _just might_ be the teensiest possibility he's probably _not_ hiding out as a _human_? Now maybe, _just maybe_ , he's been flying dragons longer than _I_ have!"

     _Well, that shut them up!_ Ryuu thought, grinning as he finished getting dressed. He removed the devices hidden in his robes and found places for them to be stashed while he wore the local outfit. The hand scanner, stunner, communicator, and a supply of subcutaneous transponders with an injector went to various locations of concealment.

     "While you're thinking about that, you guys better ixnay," Ryuu said, gathering up his robe and reaching for the door. "Time for me to mingle again."

 

Ista Weyr:

     "Fanna! What are you doing here?" Sirana asked. Fanna's careful approach over the hatching sands had made her silent while the queen rider communed with her Naireth. Absorbed by their attention for each other, neither and noted her arrival.

     "The heat sometimes helps these joints as it helps the eggs," the Senior Queen rider said, smiling. And how are you, Naireth? And your eggs?"

     _I am fine. The shells have hardened. Hatching will be soon. Very soon,_ Naireth replied.

     "She's happy to see you," Sirana relayed. She stepped over to assist Fanna to have a seat on Naireth's forearm.

     "Thank you, Naireth," Fanna said, stroking the gold dragon's biceps.

     "How goes this Fall?" Sirana asked.

     "Very well," Fanna responded. Tears started to well in her eyes. "Very well. They're all out there, fighting to protect your eggs. It's so moving to see their devotion! But I fear this will be the last Impression I will attend. No queen egg, this time," she said sadly. "But Naireth is out of Ramoth. She gave our bronzes a good flight. There should be plenty of bronzes."

     "She almost out flew all the bronzes!" Sirana giggled.

     "Yes!" Fanna shuddered. "It was a close one!"

     A resonant humming filled the chamber. Naireth's head shot up, her eyes whirling. Both queen riders' eyes went wide.

     "Hatching?" Fanna asked, shakily. "So soon?"

     "Where are the candidates?" Sirana exclaimed. But the humming faded, and they looked at each other in confusion. It seemed to come from the tunnel.

     _That wasn't fire-lizard or dragon,_ Naireth said. _Someone comes._

     "What do you mean?" Sirana asked, astonished.

     _I'm not certain,_ Naireth replied. Her eyes held orange flashes among her normal blues and greens. _I've never heard that before. I can no longer hear them._

     "We'd better investigate," Fanna said, struggling to rise. Just then, the humming returned. They waited for a moment, but the sound didn't fade. Instead, it got louder. They turned to Naireth, whose eyes were flashing rainbow.

     This _is Hatching!_ the dragon said to their unasked question.

 

     They materialized inside tunnels burrowed through the rock. There was some lighting supplied by fungal growths scattered sporadically the length of the tunnel in small metal baskets hanging on the walls.

     "Well, these scannerrs arre still useless," Maleer spat. "Nothing beyond a hundrred horramterrs!"

     "There's a T-intersection that way," Takhill said, pointing. When they arrived, their scanners still didn't reach far enough to identify an exit.

     "We might trry splitting up," Maleer suggested. "Set them to mapping mode, and link them togetherr so that when one of us rreaches the outside, the otherr will know and can backtrrack."

     "I'll take the left branch," Takhill said. "If we don't find anything, we'll return here and try this other route," he said, pointing his thumb back they way they came.

     They each had found several other branches and had to explore them before they found main tunnels. A thrumming hum began reverberating through the mountain, and they both wondered about that.

     "Maleer?" Takhill said through his communicator. "Do you hear that?"

     "Indeed I do," she replied. " _Panthrro_ , do you still have a lock on us? Can you still trransporrt us out if needed?"

     "Affirmative," the ship replied. "The subspatial distortions have descended over your locations, but your transponders are still functioning. The strength of the sound is greater through Takhill's communicator. You should be coming across the source if you continue to follow it. Also, I'm detecting the sound of people traveling through the tunnels ahead."

     "Thank you, _Panthro_ ," Takhill said, proceeding more cautiously. "I'll put out an edged view."

     "'Keep a sharrp eye out!'" Maleer said, correcting him. "That's one you should be familiarr with, Eagle-eye!"

     Maleer's nose picked up the scent of fresh air before her scanner registered the opening. She cautiously approached to ensure she wasn't in a restricted zone. Glancing out, she instantly ducked back in.

     "Rhurr!" she exclaimed, looking out at the chaos of dragons landing and launching. "Those arre as big as ourr larrgest drragons! And so many!" She tried to get a reading off them, but they were too far away for the scanner to function. She watched them, feeling a sense of urgency about their behavior.

 

     Takhill could hear the excited mutterings of people rushing through the tunnels from the next intersection, and his scanner had picked up their life form readings. As he approached, he could see the passage lit up by a greater concentration of the glowing fungus, and several people rushing excitedly by. From their demeanor, they didn't seem to be worried or upset by the vibrations shaking the rock.

     Someone spotted him and called out.

     "No!" he shouted, approaching. "This way, holder!" Takhill suddenly noticed the small dragon on the man's shoulder protesting the detour. That's when he noticed other small dragons among the crowd. The man took Takhill's arm to guide him to follow the rest.

     "Hurry!" the man said, cheerfully. "The Hatching's already begun!" Takhill left his scanner running as he closed it and put it away. Once they were moving, the man's dragon stopped screeching in protest and joined the others making that strange humming noise.

     It was a very chaotic situation. Takhill tried to get his bearings, while trying to identify what the people were doing and why. They reached a huge open chamber and the sight of the goings-on stunned him.

     People rushing from the tunnel split into two or three groups. Two groups doubled back on the tunnel entrance to climb stairs into stone stands ringing the cavern floor. The third group, all dressed in white robes, rushed out at a run onto scorching sands.

     To one side of the pit, dragons landed, passengers dismounted and ran pell-mell for the stands as the creatures instantly leapt to make room for others landing.

     And at the far end of the chamber, a huge gold dragon spread her wings protectively over her eggs that were in the process of hatching. Several of the baby dragons, and no--not the ones riding on people's shoulders as Arye had suggested!--had already escaped their shells and were wandering about the sands. Greens, blues, browns, and coppers. It was very hard to get an accurate view with all the people milling about.

     Takhill couldn't believe his eyes as he watched the people in the white robes hunt down the hatchling dragons as the mother dragon hissed threateningly at the humans. As he watched, the people in the robes seemed to hunt for specific hatchlings. He saw a few evade some clusters of dragons only to select one. Oddly, the hatchlings, too, seemed to be hunting for specific humans.

     _This_ cannot _be normal mammalian behavior!_ he thought.

     "Come on!" his guide yelled, pulling on his arm, trying to direct him to the stands.

     _It's some sort of spectator sport arena,_ he realized, finally recognizing the structure. Takhill turned to follow the man and almost tripped over one of the baby dragons that had wandered out this far from its shell. It looked up and screamed at him with rainbow flashing eyes.

     "Squit!" Takhill hissed. "Sorry, Little One," he said to it, mindful of the creature's mother growling over there. "I didn't see you!"

     _T'khill!_

     He stopped, stunned. The call was definitely directed at him, but it wasn't anyone's mind he recognized. But that should be impossible! He was human at the moment. It was impossible for him to receive telepathic call from anyone not in the circle while his form was anything other than a draconic. _THEY_ had made him so.

     Then he got a strong chill of fear. Could their quarry have found him? He looked about, searching.

     _T'khill!_ the voice sounded again. Then the baby dragon butted its head against him.

     "Easy, Little--" he began. The copper colored creature looked up and screamed at him, cutting him off. He looked into his rainbow flashing facetted eyes.

     _T'khill! I am Stealth!_ it told him.

     "Oh, squit!"

     The moment seemed to drag on for several minutes. Then it was shattered when his escort grabbed his arm.

     "Shells, Man! You Impressed a bronze!" he shouted.

     "Is this a bad thing?" T'khill asked.

 

     "Isn't he too old to Impress?" Fanna demanded.

     "Well, it is the dragon who chooses," D'ram pointed out, watching the new bronze rider, T'khill feeding his dragon.

     "And there is precedence," B'dor spoke up. "Remember that Green rider, Mirrim."

     "Well I still don't like it!" Fanna said.

     "Neither do I!" Sirana complained.

     "Well, don't tell us," B'dor sighed. "Tell Stealth." D'ram couldn't suppress his snort and both queen riders looked sharply at him.

     "Don't forget our own Impressions, Fanna," he muttered. The elder Weyrwoman suddenly blushed and bowed her head.

     "Fanna?" Sirana inquired. But the senior Weyrwoman slowly shook her head. When she looked up again, her lips were held tight and disapproving, but there was a twinkle in her eyes.

     "I won't say anymore about this," she flatly stated. D'ram quietly chuckled, and Sirana threw up her hands in disgust.

 

Harpercraft Hall:

     "Lord Jaxom tells us you were looking for a relative," the man named Sebell inquired as Ryuu settled into a chair in Robinton's office. Robinton stood to one side and a little to the rear, shrewdly watching. "Is there any way we can help?"

     "I'm not sure how," Ryuu replied as innocently as he could. He worried about some of the questions they had asked before. Something about Half-Circle and someone named "Yanus," but Ryuu had no idea and had said so. "We must've just missed each other," he had replied. "Like I told Jaxom, it's been ages since I was there."

     Ryuu stood up walked over to the window and looked out over the north wing of the complex to the fair beyond, checking out the crowds swarming about. He saw someone singing a song on a podium, a girl with her own private fire-lizard Air Force. Her song sounded nice and the fire-lizards seemed to be singing along with her.

     "When did he go missing? Or is it she?"

     "Sorry," Ryuu said, snapping out of a seeming trance. He shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know when. A long time ago. My family tends to look--a bit younger than we really are," he said with a wan smile.

     "Can you give us a name or a description?" Sebell continued.

     He looked out the window again, and saw the girl had finished. He watched her step down off the stage and rushed to embrace a young man with his own gold fire-lizard.

     "No idea," Ryuu replied. "The records were lost quite a while ago, too." He looked back at Robinton and wanted to chuckle. This interrogation reminded him of something he had monitored long ago.

     _"Excellent, Captain,"_ Ryuu could perfectly recall the proud tonal inflections of that ancient voice from the recording. _"You let your Second-in-Command attack, while you watch for weakness..."_

     "Are you from one of the Oldtimer families that came forward?" Robinton suddenly asked. "Is that why you were in Southern?"

     "Oldtimers?" Ryuu asked, genuinely puzzled. _Evidently, Robinton must've thought he found that weakness,_ Ryuu considered. _Wrong target, but surprisingly close to the mark!_ "Would it be a crime, if it were so?" he asked warily.

     "You Oldtimers were exiled to Southern when you refused to adapt to the rules of the modern world," Sebell stated.

     " _I_ haven't refused," Ryuu stressed. "And it wasn't like it was my intention to violate any sentencing. Like I said, I was just looking for a missing relative. I was caught in an accident and brought here. Is that a crime?" he demanded.

     "No, of course not," Robinton had to say.

     "Look, if you insist, I can be sent back there," Ryuu offered. "Just have Lord Jaxom ferry me back with Ruth."

     "Well, I suppose you can stay a while, at least until you've healed," Robinton suggested.

     "That's very generous of you," Ryuu said, smiling. "Might I ask Lord Jaxom to accompany me, if I need an escort?"

     "I'm afraid Lord Jaxom has been called away on other matters," Robinton said, noting a look of disappointment on Ryuu's face. "Sebell," Robinton turned to him, "would you show our guest around?"

     Sebell nodded his acceptance, but made no move to leave. Ryuu again raised his assessment of these men as they appointed an escort and made it seem like a favor.

     "Just one last thing," Robinton said to Ryuu. He reached for some papers on a nearby desk. "Can you identify these individuals for us?"

     Ryuu knew what was coming before he saw the drawings, although it did surprise him how accurate the images were. These people couldn't have had much time to memorize their faces. Ryuu knew that they would have already been able to make his own likeness. The only way he would have to confuse them would be to modify his hairstyle.

     "Not bad," he said with a whistle. "But Wolf's nose isn't that big, and you kind of botched Puma's eyes."

     "You know them?" Sebell demanded.

     "Sure," Ryuu said. "They didn't give you any trouble, did they? They're other members of my family and friends looking for our missing relative."

     "Then why were they here while you were in Southern?" Sebell asked.

     "We don't know where he is," Ryuu innocently replied. "Or she. That's why we're looking."

 

     Robinton continued to sit in his office after they left and privately hoped they wouldn't need to send this Ryuu back. The man must've been very young when the Oldtimers came forward and then were later exiled. It wasn't his wish that someone be punished for crimes committed by family members, or even just the decision of his family to accompany the dissident dragonriders. While clannish attitudes can cause families to carry grudges for generations, the younger members, if given the chance to escape a bad environment, have often reformed.

 

     "So, Sebell, is it?" Ryuu began as they exited the arch to the Harperhall courtyard. "Tell me about these 'Oldtimers'." He wanted to laugh at how 'one last thing' suddenly became another two full hours' round of intense interrogation.

     A glance about was all Ryuu needed to spot at least one additional escort--a deeply tanned young man, the apparent boyfriend of the girl with the dozen fire-lizards. He was well hidden in the crowd, and not facing their direction, but he wasn't milling about, and Ryuu caught the young man shifting his eyes away suddenly.

     Sebell looked at Ryuu with a guarded expression, uncertain how best to answer.

     Ryuu was about to ask when the Oldtimers were exiled, when Lioth and several other dragons lining the heights bugled out their welcome.

     Ryuu looked up and visibly paled.

     "Jezus!" he whispered an exclamation. "Those two are even bigger than Lioth! How big are these fire-lizards going to get? You guys stuff these things with PGH, or what?"

     "Show some respect, man!" Sebell snapped. "That's Ramoth and Mnementh!"

     But the look of astonishment on Ryuu's face seemed genuine, and Sebell couldn't see how the stranger could be from Southern Weyr and act like he had never seen a dragon before. True, Lioth was noticeably bigger than the largest Oldtimer dragons, but not by that much.

     Robinton rushed by to greet the riders as their dragons descended toward the landing field well away from the crowds and stalls of the Gather. Ryuu slowly began to follow, and Sebell was a little worried about the somewhat vacant stare the man had looking at the dragons.

     "Would you like to meet Lessa and F'lar?" Sebell asked.

     "Sure. Whoever," Ryuu absently muttered as he traveled the path. But then he stopped, blinked, and looked about in confusion.

     Sebell nearly choked in surprise over what Ryuu said. He was about to call the man to task when the stranger suddenly started marching straight for the entrance to Fort Hold.

     "Hey, they're over that way," Sebell called out, but Ryuu broke into a run. Then Sebell saw Ryuu wasn't aiming for the stairs that led to the entrance to the Hold proper. Rather it was to one side, where he saw a group of kids hanging about, laughing excitedly, and Sebell suddenly got a dreadful feeling. That was the location for the lair entrance for the Hold's watch-wher.

     His dread was confirmed when he picked up the sound of the beast screaming and crying.

     "What the hell are you kids doing?" Ryuu bellowed, rushing up to grab a couple of them. The others quickly bolted for the only way out, straight toward Sebell.

     "Hold it right there!" Sebell yelled. For added measure, he called for the Fort guards as he caught two, himself. The other kids would have gotten away by the time the guards arrive, but their friends would be able to identify them so the whole group could be rounded up later.

     "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" Ryuu demanded, shaking one of his quarry.

     "Shells!" Sebell exclaimed, hearing the cries of the tormented beast. Several guards arrived, and Sebell handed his charges over. "They've thrown glows down into his lair!"

     "Watch-whers are nocturnal!" Sebell explained when Ryuu looked at him in confusion. "The glows hurt their eyes!"

     "Bloody Flames!" Ryuu cursed. He shoved the two kids past Sebell toward the guards, then rushed to the barred gate over the entrance. Before Sebell or the guards could react, he gave a powerful kick against the lock on the gate, then grabbed the bars and yanked, snapping the lock. He rushed in before anyone could stop him.

     "No! Wait!" Sebell screamed. "You'll be killed!" But Ryuu didn't even pause.

 

Ista Weyr:

     Maleer wandered the Weyr, puzzled by what happened to Takhill.

     As she watched from the protection of the tunnel, she saw the dragons and people eventually clear out of the area, even as the thrumming from the mountain grew louder. The range on her scanner increased slightly from only a hundred horamters to one-fifty, but still too short for any sort of safety margin. But from what she could see, the area was clear.

     _Takhill,_ she called to him. _I found my way outside. Use my scannerr's data to make yourr way out herre._

     _I can't come right now,_ he sent back.

     _Do you need my assistance?_ she inquired.

     _No! No! I'm currently surrounded by humans and dragons. I'm in no danger, but it would not be wise to hunt me down._

     _That's 'seek forr you,'_ she corrected him.

     That was a couple hours ago. She set herself up in an out-of-the-way location, and monitored Takhill's movements. He had mapped out a large web throughout the interior, culminating at a huge chamber. There were dozens of life forms about him, both human and dragon.

     After about half-an-hour, people started returning to the outside, breaking into small groups and excitedly discussing what they had experienced. Maleer noted Takhill had also started to move, but then his signal made no sense. There was a sharp rise in elevation indicated.

     Dragons also reappeared, landing to drop off riders and what looked like large animals, but it was too far to see clearly. Takhill's scanner signal emerged from the mountainside, evidently on one of the dragons descending.

     "What?" she wondered aloud. "Did he hitch a rride on one of those things?"

     Her target dragon landed, and three people got off, and they unloaded some creature. When the dragon launched back into the air, Takhill's signal didn't go with it.

     _So he's one of them,_ Maleer concluded. She cautiously left her shelter to make her way toward where he was.

     _Takhill, what arre you doing?_ she asked him.

     _Sorry, Maleer, I'm a little busy right now._

     Puzzled, she made her way over that direction, staying near the cliff base to avoid the dragons landing on her.

     Unfortunately, as she traveled, Takhill moved to the farthest part of the Weyr, leaving her no option but to walk the entire distance around the perimeter.

     "And this couple had the audacity to try passing themselves off as dragonriders!" she heard a familiar voice say.

     She glanced over and saw Warbret spot her, as well.

     "Flaming Hairrballs!" she hissed.

 

     T’khill had a bucket full of cut up red and green meat chunks to feed his new friend. Red, he understood. The green had him concerned. He picked up a piece and sniffed it. It didn't smell rotten to him, but then, he couldn't trust these muted human senses.

     _Hey! I think that's for me!_ Stealth protested.

     "Is this any good?" he asked, concerned, looking about. Other humans, mostly young adolescent males and a couple of females likewise had buckets with similar cuts and colors of meat, feeding their own dragons.

     He felt the chunk disappear from his grip and he snapped his head about to see the creature busily chewing.

     "How did you do that?" he asked, astonished. He had his other hand on the creature's neck. Had it shot its head out to snatch the meat and yanked back to where it was chewing, he _should've_ felt that!

     _Useless human senses!_ he cursed. _How were they ever able to win any wars against us?_

     Stealth opened his maw and screamed at him.

     _Feed me!_ the dragon demanded. Shrugging in confusion, T'khill picked out another chunk--red, this time--and tossed it in.

     "T'khill," he heard D'ram speak to him. "We need to talk. Again." He looked up to see not only D'ram, but also a couple other apparent dragonriders. They were holding Maleer. And there was Warbret standing there.

     "Squit!"

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "Arye," the ship's computer spoke up, interrupting her monitoring of Ryuu's interrogation by Robinton. "It appears T'khill and M'leer have again violated major cultural taboos."

     "What'd they do, this time?" she asked with a sigh.

     "From what I could overhear, T'khill has bonded with one of the draconic creatures."

     " _WHAT?_ " Arye exclaimed, jumping up from her seat.

     " _That_ is evidently _not_ the cause of the violation, however," _Panthro_ told her. "It seems that M'leer and T'khill have been re-arrested on their initial charge of impersonating dragonriders and for escaping confinement."

     " _Panthro_!" Arye shouted. "Lower Psionic screens!"

     _T'khill!_ she sent.

 

Ista Weyr:

     _Arye? Are you still on the_ Panthro _?_ T'khill ventured.

     _I'm here,_ she responded.

     _Arrye, we seem to have a small prroblem,_ Maleer cut in.

     _Not according to_ Panthro _. He says it's_ not _little!_ Arye sent. _I strongly suspect, however, Ryuu's going to be a little pissed!_

     _Because I Impressed a dragon?_ T'khill asked.

     _Orr that_ he _didn't?_ Maleer tossed in.

     _Probably_ both _!_ Arye replied.

     Both T'khill and Maleer winced in anticipation. There was no such thing as Ryuu getting 'a _little_ pissed.'

     "...And I'd like to know why you identified yourselves as dragonriders?" D'ram was demanding. "Especially when the dragons _don't_ give an honorific to female riders!" he finished, looking at Maleer.

     _Waitaminute!_ Arye sent to them. _I may have something to help!_ Panthro's _given me the text of your interrogation. Ryuu's also being interrogated, and it's given me an idea! Is your dragon big enough to ride?_

     _Rryuu being arrrested is_ helping _us?_ Maleer sent only to T'khill. _This'll be a firrst!_

     _Not yet,_ T'khill replied to Arye. _But I understand he will grow. Does that help?_

     _Absolutely, it helps! There was an incident where they found dragons could travel through time!_ Arye told them.

     _And the value of this is...?_ T'khill inquired.

     "Well, we're waiting," D'ram said.

     _Tell them..._ Arye quickly outlined the plot to them. They glanced at each other in surprise and audibly gulped.

     "The rresponsibility is mine, I'm afrraid," Maleer nervously began. D'ram and the others focused on her. She paused as Arye telepathically fed her information.

     "I assume you arre awarre of how drragons can teleporrt thrrough time?" she asked. Warbret raised an eyebrow and glanced at D'ram.

     "You've got to be kidding," the Lord Holder said to her. "Does the word 'Oldtimers' mean anything to you?"

     "Well, then you must have hearrd about how Lessa went back to brring them forrwarrd?" she ventured.

     "Enough of this!" D'ram said, beginning to show his annoyance. "Of course we've heard about it! Most this entire Weyr and I were brought forward! Now explain yourselves!"

     _Uh-oh!_ Arye thought.

     "Rhurr!" Maleer gulped.

     "Uh--" T'khill spoke up, and then faltered when they all turned on him.

     _T'khill! Stay with the plan! It's the only way!_ Arye sent. But he couldn't proceed, in case his unfamiliarity with the language caused them to get in deeper trouble.

     "He came acrross a drragonrriderr who had timed it frrom the futurre!" Maleer shouted, startling everyone there. Even T'khill looked at her in surprise. "It was him," she whispered, as they looked at her in stunned amazement. "It was his own futurre."

     "He _WHAT?_ " Warbret exclaimed, but D'ram held up his hand. There was great concern etched on the dragonrider's face, and indeed all the riders in the room.

     "He _timed_ on _himself_?" D'ram hoarsely asked, stunned by the admission.

     "I didn't believe it when he told me," Maleer said, looking down in shame. "I wasn't therre. I thought he was daydrreaming. We werre both verry young, so I thought it was a child's game he was playing. Afterr, he insisted to be called T'khill. I trried to play along, so I became M'leer. I know it was wrrong, but we grew up togetherr, it became to be habit."

     "Are you certain?" D'ram asked.

     "I neverr saw them, myself," she said, looking up. There were tears in her eyes, which surprised T'khill. He had seen humans capable of such grand deception, but it takes training. He hadn't expected M'leer to know so much of their culture.

     "But the drragon's name was Stealth!" she told them. "I did not believe it, myself, until today!"

     "T'khill!" D'ram admonished him. "I can't tell you enough how dangerous that kind of stunt was!"

     "He--I--informed me the situation was unavoidable," T'khill told them. He relied on his experience with temporal anomalies as part of Ryuu's crew to keep the phrasing correct. "I--wasn't given details about how Stealth and--his rider--came to be there."

     "D'ram!" Warbret exclaimed. "You don't believe this, do you?"

     "As fantastic as it sounds, Lord Warbret, there is precedent," D'ram told him. He looked at his other riders in the barracks who had come forward on that urgent journey.

     Through their dragons, they silently communicated about how, in desperation, before Lessa had left to get the Oldtimers, F'nor had led several riders ten turns back to mature and train at the Southern Weyr. The events were not common knowledge and couldn't be spoken with Warbret there. They all nodded in agreement. None of them knew that T'khill and Maleer were listening to the dragons pass the messages back and forth.

     "T'khill, do you know if your future had--any problems--going back?" D'ram asked him.

     "They were able to recover well enough to make the attempt, but of course, I don't know if they made it."

     "Of course," D'ram nodded, understanding.

     "But how did you two get out of my cell?" Warbret asked.

     "I'm afrraid I have to take crredit forr that," Maleer said, getting up from where she sat beside T'khill on his bunk, to slink up beside the Lord Holder. She held up his wallet with his official documents before his face.

     "It's a useful talent," she softly said, "even if I honestly don't use it so often. Just in emerrgencies." Warbret looked stunned. Then, angrily, he snatched it from her and replaced it in his pocket.

     "Try that again!" he challenged. Maleer smiled.

     "Alrright," she purred.

     She walked away a few paces, then turned and approached him, again, sliding up beside him.

     "Ha!" Warbret exclaimed, grabbing her hand and pulling it up. His wallet was again in her grip. "I caught you!"

     "Yesss," Maleer said, smiling. "But did you catch these?" She held up her other hand. In it, was his belt knife and purse. D'ram and the others burst out laughing. Even Warbret was impressed and had to chuckle good-naturedly.

     "And you swear that you never used such skills for selfish gain?" he asked, taking his property back.

     "I do affirrm," Maleer said. "I have neverr used such talent except wherre the situation called forr desperrate measurres."

     Warbret chewed the inside of his cheeks, considering as he stared at her and T'khill.

     "Will you vouch for her, then?" he asked T'khill.

     "Yes, sir," T'khill said, standing to face him.

     "And will you vouch for him?" Warbret asked D'ram.

     "I do, Lord Holder," he replied.

     "Very well," Warbret said, acknowledging him. "Because, if I so much as hear about any thieving going on in or about my Hold, I'm talking to you, first thing, Maleer."

     "I underrstand, sirr," Maleer solemnly said.

     Warbret stared at her, still trying to place that accent. Finally, he turned and marched out, leaving the dragonmen to speak with the two.

     "Understand this, too," D'ram spoke up. "Your Impression is a bit unprecedented. Should you give us any reason to grieve vouching for you and continuing your training, so don't think for a moment that we can't punish you. You can still be sent to the Southern Weyr with the others that didn't accept our responsibilities to Pern, or worse."

     "Yes, sir," they both replied.

     "I won't let you down," T'khill promised.

     "We'll see," D'ram said. "When it's time, we'll see. Be ready tomorrow morning, T'khill. You and the rest of the weyrlings will begin your training then." With that, he led the others out of the weyrling barracks. The other newly bonded riders and dragons started to filter in, giving muted watch to the trio as they picked out their bunks and lairs.

 

Fort Hold:

     It was dark, and it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust, but then he saw one, then two small lights. Rushing down the rough stairs, he picked them up and put them into his pocket. The chamber went pitch black from his vantage, but the creature was still screaming.

     "There must be more down there," he muttered to himself as he pulled out one of the glows and his scanner. The readings from the scanner indicated there were dozens below the twisting descending stairwell. And several life forms.

     "Oh, lovely," he muttered, groping about in the darkness.

     Near the bottom, he could make out the light from the glows as his eyes finished their adjustment. He found two vaguely draconic creatures cowering against the far wall, surrounded by half-a-dozen of the glowing fungal balls.

     "Easy, fellas," Ryuu said, trying to calm them as he began picking up the scattered glows and putting them away. "I'm only trying to help." He got about three that were near the stairs, but the others were close to the creatures. When he reached to get one, one of the watch-whers lunged snapping for him, and they both jumped back. Ryuu because of the teeth, and the watch-wher because of the glow.

     "Jezus!" Ryuu exclaimed. He had to stop and think about how to make this a win-win situation. In the few moments he was trying to plan among the horrendous cries from the creatures, he heard a new sound. There was a strange scrambling noise coming from a pitch black hole in the wall, too small for the watch-whers to fit. In a few moments, a long, six-legged reptilian creature emerged, aiming beady red eyes about as it took in the scene.

     "Who are you? Their cousin?" Ryuu asked it. It didn't respond, but just stared at him. Ryuu looked back up the stairs, and listened. Nobody was coming, so he made up his mind. He began undressing, neatly putting his clothes on the stairs.

     "I'm sorry, but this might hurt you," he said to the watch-whers. "I'm only trying to help." There was a tremendous bright flash, and the watch-whers screamed even louder. Fortunately for them, it didn't last more than a split second. In Ryuu's place, there stood a gold dragon, about seven meters from snout to tip of tail. The six-legged creature started but didn't run.

     _I'm here to help,_ Ryuu-the-dragon told the watch-whers. He reached an arm for one of the glows, and the creature snapped at him again, making contact this time with his scaled hide. Ryuu held steady, and continued to reach for the glow as the watch-wher held on with its bite.

     _I'm only here to help stop the pain,_ he told it as his claws closed about the glow. The lessening light and his gentle talk eased the creature's pain, and it let go.

     As Ryuu moved to go to the other side for the last two glows, the six-legged creature got involved, herding the watch-whers away and using its body to provide some shade from the glows. Two other six-legged creatures showed up and helped. Ryuu looked at them and he gathered up the remaining glows and retreated to his clothes.

     _I'm afraid I am going to cause you pain again, but it's just for a moment, I promise,_ Ryuu told them. _Don't attack me, and I'll leave with the things that hurt you._

     The six-legged creatures suddenly closed up to protectively shield the watch-whers. Ryuu stared at them for several moments.

     _Are you the ones I'm looking for?_ he ventured. There was no reply, but the three creatures continued to glare at him.

     Ryuu triggered the Gateway, and returned to his human form. The watch-whers screamed once more, then there was silence. Ryuu waited a few moments to see if he was going to be attacked in the dark, then quickly dressed, having memorized the layout of his clothes. After dressing, he pulled out his scanner and let it read the creatures.

     After nearly three thousand years, his heart nearly stopped on its own. All five creatures had similar tri-latticed DNA as the other native species he had detected. But _one_ of the six-legged lizards had the unmistakable genetic markers that Ryuu and his crew had!

     There, before him, was his quarry and evidently, her two monitors! If it was one thing he had learned while encountering others like himself this was an exceedingly dangerous moment when they meet. And he knew the artificial life forms must've detected his metabolic spike.

     "Good God!" he exclaimed, "Just how many different variations did the Colonists make from those fire-lizards? This makes four, now!" he asked aloud before setting the scanner to continuous mapping and putting it away. He hoped voicing surprise about discovering the watch-wher's nature would disguise the shock of finding his target.

     He headed up the stairs, doubting it would. She had ignored _THEIR_ recall. Her monitors had already detected the signals from the ship and the crews' monitors when they arrived in system. She's stayed hidden while they searched for weeks. And Ryuu had just revealed himself in his full glory right in front of her nose!

     _Puma,_ he sent on a private contact. _I've found her! Get the readings from my scanner and transport down as soon as I leave the tunnel._

     He paused before reaching the entrance and pulled out his injector. He implanted a replacement transponder in his arm before putting it away and finished climbing the stairs.

     _The ship reports subspace distortions are preventing a safe transport lock for beaming in,_ Puma replied.

     _I've got my scanner locked active and on mapping mode,_ Ryuu responded. _Use it as your coordinate base. Hurry! And you'll need night vision goggles when you arrive. She's not, repeat,_ not _a draconic! She's some sort of reptile, like a six-legged Komodo lizard. If she triggers the Gateway, we'll never find out what she'll be!_

 

Ista Weyr:

     _Brace yourselves, everyone!_ Ryuu suddenly sent to them and the others in his crew.

     They felt strong electric shocks and Stealth roared in protest.

     _Who hurts my friend?_ he demanded.

     "It's okay, Stealth," T'khill said to him. The bronze's bellow got the attention of everyone in the barracks.

     _It's not okay!_ the dragon hissed. _Who was that? Did he do this? I heard him!_

     "Easy, Stealth," Maleer said, soothingly. "Yes, that was a friend of ours."

     _A friend wouldn't hurt his friends like that!_ Stealth said.

     "Stealth, you have to understand something about me," T'khill said to the dragon, rubbing his eye ridges. "We're--uh-oh! Incoming!" He jerked his hand back to keep from shocking the dragon.

     _Make him stop!_ Stealth roared, rearing up on his couch. _Who is hurting my friend? WHERE ARE YOU?_

     "Calm down, Stealth!" T'khill said to him.

     The doors to the barracks burst open and the voice of a dragon outside bellowing started Stealth.

     "By the shells of dragons eggs, what is going on in here?" the blue rider, K'der, demanded.

     _Someone hurt T'khill!_ Stealth told him. K'der looked about the barracks at the other riders, but no one was in the vicinity.

     "We're okay, K'der," T'khill quickly told him. Maleer nodded as she petted and tried to soothe the bronze.

     "I think he's still a bit jittery," Maleer said.

     "T'khill," K'der began, "I don't know what kind of problems you and your spouse have, but this is not the time nor the place for any problems to erupt. These dragons need sleep and their riders need rest. Tomorrow's going to be a long day for everyone here."

     _He's not_ here _!_ Stealth said to Warth, K'der's dragon. _But he hurt my friends! I heard him! I heard Ryuu!_

     "Ryuu?" K'der asked, astonished. "T'khill, do you know what this is about? Who is Ryuu?"

     "I'm afraid we wouldn't know what we can tell you," T'khill replied as truthfully as he could.

     "Well you lot had better get to sleep, because first thing in the morning, dead-on-your-feet or not, you start!" With that, the dragonrider shut the doors.

     Throughout the barracks, people and dragons started crawling in their racks and beds, putting out the glows. Daylight from the late afternoon sun still seeped between the cracks of window shutters and the door.

     _Are you in trouble because of me?_ Stealth fearfully asked after several quiet moments.

     "Oh no, Young One!" T'khill quickly reassured his dragon. "But that definitely could have performed better than it did," T'khill muttered. Maleer didn't bother to correct his phrasing.

     "Wait until Rryuu finds out," she said with a shudder.

     _Who is Arye?_ Stealth suddenly asked. _Is it okay for me to meet her? She sounds nice. Nicer than Ryuu!_

     "You hearrd herr?" Maleer asked, astonished.

     _Hey! Arrye!_ Maleer called.

     _DON'T--!_ came a sharp response. A series of four pulses came on her subcutaneous transponder. Maleer looked at T'khill in surprise.

     "Arrye's in trrouble!" she whispered. She looked about for a place of concealment.

     "On the ship?" T'khill asked, confused. "How can _anyone_ be in trouble on the ship?"

     "I don't know how eitherr," Maleer said. "I felt pain in herr sending. I have to find someplace to trransporrt frrom." T'khill looked about and noticed there were doors to stalls next to each rider's bunk.

     "These look like heads," he said pointing to the one next to his. "Try here."

     Maleer surreptitiously looked about to ensure no one noticed her and quietly slipped in the stall. Once inside, she activated her communicator and signaled for transport.

     A low resonant hum filled the barracks, instantly getting the attention of dragons and riders. They heard a multi-tonal whine, like that of fire-lizards crying, rise in pitch and volume before all the sound faded, leaving confused faces of humans and dragons in its wake.

     "What was that?" someone demanded. "Another hatching?" But no one ventured to supply an answer.

     _All hands,_ Puma called out just then to everyone. _Ryuu's been compromised! Coordinate through me, from now on!_

 

Fort Hold:

     There was quite a crowd waiting when Ryuu got to the top of the stairs. In addition to Sebell and the Fort guards, Robinton was standing by. No surprise there, as was the additional escort he had spotted earlier off to one side. But then he also saw the girl with the fire-lizard squadron, a handsome tall man in some sort of heavily furred leather jackets that looked like flying gear from WWI, and a short, pretty woman also with her own flying gear. All three were pressed in close to Robinton. There were lots beyond, probably people from the Gather. At that moment, a huge, older man pushed through the crowd, demanding answers.

     Ryuu handed Sebell the glows from his pocket, and turned to one of the Fort guards. "You might want to put a solid door over that entrance so those kids can't toss those things through the grill," Ryuu told him.

     "Who are you and what explanation do you have for this damage?" the huge man bellowed.

     "Just a friend, trying to help," Ryuu calmly replied. He pointed at the glows Sebell was holding. "Some kids tossed those down that tunnel to torment the--what do you call them, 'watch-whers'? There wasn't time to unlock the gate, so I busted it and went down to get them."

     "Y-you-you did-- _WHAT_?" the man burst out.

     "It's true, Lord Groghe," Sebell spoke out.

     "The creatures were in pain," Ryuu added. "They're fine now."

     The big man was at a loss for words as his eyes bugged out.

     "Ryuu can speak to dragons," Sebell said. "Evidently, he can speak to watch-whers, too."

     "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't speak of such things too loudly," Ryuu quietly said to him, but Groghe was close enough to hear Ryuu's request.

     "It's a rare person who can speak to the dragons and watch-whers, Lord Groghe," the short, pretty woman spoke out, coming forward.

     "Too late," Ryuu muttered, wincing, but Groghe caught that, too.

     "I should know," the woman finished, evidently not catching Ryuu's remark.

     "You must be Ramoth's friend," Ryuu suddenly said, smoothly, taking her hand. "I can see why she chose such a beautiful companion. I'm impressed, too!" There was stunned silence as he kissed her hand.

     "Is there something wrong?" Ryuu asked Sebell after noticing the crowd staring at him.

     "This is Weyrwoman Lessa!" Sebell whispered.

     "Well, of course she is," Ryuu smoothly replied, smiling. "I'm very honored to meet you, as well as Weyrleader F'lar," Ryuu added, extending his hand to Mnementh's rider. Ryuu steeled his grip, expecting F'lar to have a strong grasp, and gripped F'lar's hand just enough to not give offense.

     At that moment, Ryuu felt a stiff, electric jolt shooting though his body. It was sudden, but not unexpected, and Ryuu quickly grabbed his chest over his heart, feigning a heart seizure. F'lar, on the other hand, had to yank his arm away. The energy surge numbed his arm and shortened his breath. Mnementh bellowed in anger for the attack on his rider.

     _The Gateway!_ Ryuu sent an exclamation to Puma as he knelt down. _She's gone to wing! Move in! Move in!_ NOW _!_

 

     "Are you okay?" Lessa asked F'lar as several people moved to assist the stranger that had collapsed. He was rubbing the feeling back into his arm.

     "I never felt anything like that!" F'lar muttered. "No, wait! I did! Last year, when I accidentally brushed against Fandarel's distance writer."

     "Hold on, Ryuu," Lessa heard Robinton tell the man. Evidently, no one else had noticed F'lar's injury. "I've sent Zair for Oldive. He'll be here shortly. Do you know what's wrong?"

     "Like I told you," the stranger said, getting his breath back. "I'm older than I look."

     "Old, my busted voice!" Robinton said. "You're not a day over twenty-five turns. Thirty, tops."

     "Oh, you'd be surprised," Ryuu responded, slyly smiling. Lessa narrowed her gaze at the man.

     _There's something about him..._ she thought to herself.

 

     _Wolf and I are in!_ Puma reported. _We're heading down!_

     _I've been compromised!_ Ryuu sent to Puma. _If I can feel her using the Gateway, she can feel and hear me! I can only send on private channels from now on._

     _Understood,_ Puma responded. _But those dragons can hear our broadcasts, as well!_

     Ryuu got to his feet, politely rejecting the assistance from everyone as he was guided back to the Harperhall and the Healercraft section. If the others needed to use the Gateway to transform, the energy surge would transfer through Ryuu and possibly injure anyone in contact with him.

     "I'll be okay," Ryuu told Robinton. I just need to rest. Could I have some water?"

     "Menolly, would you fetch us some wine?" Robinton asked the girl with the cloud of fire-lizards.

     _Menolly?_ Ryuu mused, catching her name. _Like Melody. The girl with the dozen, singing fire-lizards._

     "Please! Just water," Ryuu called out to her. "And thank you."

     _Standby!_ Puma sent to him. Ryuu quickly distanced himself from anyone's touch and braced for the shock. It came.

     "You ought to know," Robinton said, "I did the same thing when I was a child."

     _Problem?_ Ryuu asked when the sensation faded.

     "Really?" Ryuu asked Robinton, keeping track of his two separate conversations.

     _There's no sign of them,_ Puma responded. _Just the draconics. Wolf and I've gone into the tunnels to sniff him out. But the tunnel's been collapsed!_

     "So, you got to pet the watch-whers, too?" Ryuu asked the MasterHarper.

     "Shells, no!" Robinton burst out laughing. "I only got in fights with the kids who tossed the glows. Got stomped several times, as I recall. They didn't hurt you, did they?"

     "Not a scratch," Ryuu replied, grinning.

 

Onboard _Panthro_ :

     When M'leer reached the Bridge, she found Arye writhing on the deck.

     "Arrye!" she screamed, rushing to her. "What happened?"

     "You and T'khill happened!" she hissed, getting to her knees. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to do two simultaneous _private_ links? We are _not_ built that way! It's given me the Mother of All Headaches! Then Ryuu and Puma come blasting in with their broadcasts--did _NOT_ help!"

     "That's it?" M'leer asked, astonished.

     "Yeah," Arye said, sneering with annoyance. She got to her feet and made her way to the command chair. "'That's it'! Unless you want Ryuu privy to all that you guys were doing. I'll be all right in a few hours. Just--don't send to me for awhile."

     "So what's going on with Rryuu?" M'leer asked.

     "He ran into our quarry," Arye reported with a snort. "Blew the Gateway right under her nose! She bolted and now Puma and Wolf are trying to chase her down. So what was it you wanted to tell me?"

     "Oh," M'leer said. "I almost forrgot. That drragon T'khill bonded with can hearr us sending. He hearrd your prrivate sending to us. Then there was Rryuu's brroadcast. I imagine Stealth's just hearrd Puma, too." Arye stared at her.

     "He _heard_ my _private_ sending?" she asked. "No wonder I have a spitting headache."

     "That's 'splitting headache'," M'leer said automatically. Arye glared at her and she winced. "Sorrry, habit frrom corrrecting T'khill," M'leer apologized.

     "I meant to say 'spitting--', oh, never mind," Arye said, rubbing her temples. "Well, if you want to reduce the number of times Ryuu forces you to use the Gateway to heal yourselves, you better get some damned good data on the life cycles of that creature you adopted!"

     "We'll get on it rright away!" M'leer quickly said.

 

Ista Weyr:

     _That seemed a strange way of going_ between _,_ Stealth remarked. _It doesn't sound right._

     "What?" T'khill asked, looking at his dragon. Stealth was switching his gaze from the necessary where Maleer concealed her departure to some direction vaguely southeast and back. "Oh, our transporter," he realized what the creature was referring to.

     _Do I grow to be a handsome dragon?_ Stealth suddenly asked.

     "I don't comprehend," T'khill said. "What do you mean?"

     _You told them we will jump back to see you when you were a child,_ Stealth reminded him. _Did I grow to be a handsome dragon? And--I'm a little confused. Why did Arye know so much about us going back but you didn't? Weren't you there to meet us?_

     "Uh, I'm sorry, but Maleer and I didn't exactly tell them the truth about that," T'khill whispered.

     _What do you mean?_ Stealth asked.

     "I never met you before you hatched," T'khill told him. The bronze blinked several times, trying to analyze that.

     _None of what you told them was true?_

     "No," T'khill admitted.

     _Why did you tell them those things, then?_ Stealth pleaded with a whine.

     "Because Maleer and I are not supposed to be here," T'khill explained. "None of us. Not Arye, not Puma, and most certainly not Ryuu."

     _Am I not supposed to be here, too?_ the dragon fearfully asked.

     "Oh, no, Stealth," T'khill said, getting out of his bunk to hug his dragon. "It's not like you think. You _are_ supposed to be here. _I'm_ the one who's at fault. I wasn't supposed to get you." He sighed, puzzled by the moisture leaking from his eyes.

     "We are on a mission," he whispered to the bronze, "to find someone else who isn't supposed to be here. That person was supposed to be with us, going home with us. But he, or she, refused to come when called. So we had to come here to look for her."

     _Are you telling me the truth?_ Stealth asked him.

     "Absolutely!" T'khill said, hugging him fiercely. "But it's for your ears, only! You must never tell anyone else! No one, not another dragon, not another human, no one!"

     _What will you do when you find this one you seek?_ the dragon asked.

     "We'll take him, or her with us," T'khill replied. "We'll leave this world and go home."

     _Are you going to leave me?_ Stealth asked with a whimper.

     "Absolutely not!" T'khill almost spoke out loud. "No! You'll come with me! For the first time in my two thousand, eight hundred and twenty-seven years in existence, I'm not alone. You're coming with me!"

     _But you're in trouble because you Impressed me. You're going to be in trouble, aren't you?_ Stealth pointed out. _Ryuu will be angry, won't he? He can hurt you. You and M'leer are afraid of him._

     "Well, Ryuu might be annoyed, yes," T'khill admitted, wincing. "But he won't be angry. Actually, he likes dragons. A lot. He'd love to meet you," he said, grinning.

     _M'leer,_ Stealth suddenly said. _That's her name! Why do you call her Maleer?_

     "Well, you probably have a better understanding of that, than me," T'khill pointed out. Stealth was puzzled and said so. "You were born here, after all!" the rider said grinning.

     _The target's on the run!_ Puma announced. _Wolf and I have to change! Standby!_

     "Stealth! You must listen and obey me!" T'khill hissed at the bronze hatchling. He stepped away to isolate himself from the dragon. "I'm going to get shocked again, but you mustn't get angry!"

     _What?_ the dragon asked, confused. _Why? Who is doing that to you? Who are they?_

     "Stealth!" T'khill insisted. "Trust me! Don't yell out about this! I'll explain as much as I can."

     _Incoming!_ Puma announced. The jolt hit T'khill as warned.

     _Why?_ Stealth asked, whimpering. _Why do they hurt you?_

     "It's okay, Stealth," T'khill said, trying to soothe him. "There's a certain thing I and my friends can do. We can actually change our bodies in an instant. This body you're looking at isn't my hatched form."

     _It isn't?_ the dragon asked, thoroughly confused.

     "No, it isn't," T'khill told him. "But for us to change, it shocks the rest of us. If I were to change, they would be shocked like me."

     _So do it to let them know they should stop hurting you!_ Stealth pleaded.

     "Stealth, please understand," T'khill insisted. "They need to do it because the one we're looking for can do it, also. That person's running, and Puma needs to catch him before he gets away."

     _Standby,_ Puma warned.

     "Please, Stealth!" T'khill insisted. "Don't shout!" The energy surged through his body again.

     _There's no sign of them,_ Puma broadcasted. _Just the draconics. Wolf and I've gone into the tunnels to sniff him out. But the tunnel's been collapsed!_

     _They lost him! So, can I tell her and Ryuu to stop hurting you, now?_ Stealth asked.

     "They're a long ways off, Stealth," T'khill said to him. "But you better not! We don't desire to tell Ryuu about you just immediately."

     _I'm sorry they hurt you,_ Stealth said, snuffling up to him. _I'm sorry I'm not big enough to make them stop hurting you!_

     "Oh, Stealth," T'khill said, rubbing the dragon's eye ridges. "It's a needed thing."

     The barracks doors opened, and T'khill looked up to see Maleer slip back in.

     "Is Arye broken?" T'khill asked her.

     "That's 'is Arrye hurrt?'" Maleer corrected him. "She's fine. It was the fact she had two prrivate links going and that Stealth could hearr herr even with that rrestrriction."

     _I hurt Arye?_ Stealth asked, shocked. _I'm sorry! I didn't want to hurt anyone except the ones who keep hurting T'khill!_

     "No, Stealth," she said. "Arrye hurt herself. How arre you?"

     _I'm confused,_ the dragon told her.

     "Well, you did come at an awkwarrd moment," Maleer said, shrugging. "We didn't have time to warrn you what you werre getting into. If we had, you might've chosen someone else." T'khill looked at her in surprise.

 

Fort Gather:

     Lessa watched them go, and turned F'lar to go back to their dragons.

     "What do you think?" F'lar asked, still rubbing his shoulder.

     "Something about him seems familiar," Lessa muttered. "I know I've never seen him before, but I get the strangest feeling. But you remember how the dragons suddenly acted so strangely a few hours ago? They mentioned 'Ryuu'. And I can hear the dragons, especially Ruth, talking about him."

     "What are they saying?" F'lar asked.

     "They're worried," Lessa replied.

 

     Robinton paused outside his office, deep in thought. After they brought Ryuu to Oldive, he had the strangest feeling that something was out of place.

     "Robinton," Lessa said when she caught up with the MasterHarper, interrupting his train of thought.

     "Lessa!" he exclaimed turning around. Robinton's face showed his genuine pleasure at her presence. "I'm sorry about that unpleasantness. Is F'lar still here?"

     "He had to go back to Benden. Robinton," she said, wanting to get to the bottom of this problem as quickly as possible. "What can you tell me about this person we met today? What was his name?"

     "Ryuu," Robinton answered, and the smile left his face. To Lessa, that didn't bode well. "Would you mind stepping into my office?" he asked her as pleasantly as he could.

     "I'm sorry, Lessa," he apologized with a sigh once they were inside. "I may be stepping into Weyr business, but I'm afraid this Ryuu is Harper business, too. I think it would be better if we work together on this."

     "I agree," Lessa finally said after a few moments to think of where this may lead. "Perhaps we should work together. So, what can you tell me about him?"

 

     A few hours later, Oldive couldn't find anything wrong with Ryuu's heart and said so.

     "Well, I don't know, myself," Ryuu said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm no healer. Maybe it's just indigestion. All I know is it sometimes hits pretty hard like that." He glanced up at the two fire-lizards keeping an eye on him. Sebell was there, with his Kimi and Robinton's Zair was also there.

     "Do you have any medication for it?" Oldive asked. Ryuu grimaced.

     "Back in my camp," he meekly explained.

     "Well, we better get it," Oldive said. "If I know what you're taking, I can figure out what to do about it."

     "Well, Jaxom would know where to find it," Ryuu said, keeping a poker face. But telepathically, he called to Puma with near panic.

     "I'll go find him," Sebell said as he reached for the door.

     _Puma!_ Ryuu sent. _Is anyone still on the_ Panthro _?_

     _I want you to find a better name for her,_ Puma started. Ryuu's mental scream at her cut her off. It also startled all the dragons and fire-lizards around Fort.

     "What's wrong with them?" Oldive asked when both the fire-lizards screamed.

     "I don't know!" Sebell exclaimed, surprised by their behavior.

     _Puma,_ Ryuu sent when he calmed down enough to where he could make a private connection again. _I need to know who's on the ship! As Soon As Yesterday!_

     _I don't like it when you yell like that!_ she protested.

     "Oh for the love of--" he muttered under his breath. _WHO'S ON THE BLOODY SHIP?_ he broadcast to everyone. _To hell with it if_ she _hears me!_ he thought to himself. Again, the fire-lizards screamed, as well as the dragons outside.

     "Kimi! Zair!" Sebell cried. "What's wrong?"

     _I am,_ Arye meekly replied. She had heard that mental scream a moment ago and wondered what was wrong.

     "Ryuu? Are you alright?" Oldive asked, coming back to him with concern etched in his face. "Your face is all red!"

     Ryuu wanted to laugh and ask the MasterHealer, _And why shouldn't it be?_ Instead, he replied, "I'm okay," with a tight smile.

     _Arye, I need you to have the ship synthesize a camp in the jungle near where Pardus met me today,_ he told her. _It should appear to have been for one human male, and look like it was evacuated in a hurry. Have_ Panthro _whip up a batch of Nitroglycerin tablets for heart patients to include in the setting. And have him beam it all down as fast as he can create it! One of the natives and his rider will be coming to pick up the pills and they'll be there as soon as they lift off the ground!_

     "I think I'd better check you out some more," Oldive told him, oblivious to Ryuu's silent conversations and inner turmoil. "This may take awhile," the MasterHealer warned.

     "It's okay," Ryuu said with a sigh, lying back on the exam table. "I'm not going anywhere." _None of us are going anywhere,_ he silently added to himself. _We're not going to find her for_ Another _Three Thousand Years, and in the meanwhile, there's a Dysonsphere just chock full of Inter-dimensional Near-God-like DRAGONS_ screaming _at us to 'Hurry the_ Bloody-Flaming-HELL UP! _'_

     "Things just can't possibly get any better than they are right now," he muttered sarcastically. Oldive gave him a quizzical look, but didn't pursue the matter.

     By now, the fire-lizards had settled down.

     "Sebell, you'd better find Jaxom!" Oldive told the harper.

 

Ista Weyr:

     A few hours after sunset the entire Weyr was startled by all the dragons roaring. Only T'khill and Maleer shocked awake, knew why.

     _Who was_ that _?_ Stealth asked, terrified. The dragon's eyes were whirling yellow and white. What _was that?_

     "That, my love, was Ryuu," T'khill quietly whispered. The room had become dark, as the sun, not yet set, had moved shadow over the barracks. Someone at the other end of the room opened a glow basket and the weyrlings started muttering to each other.

     "He sounds a bit ticked. You don't suppose he learrned about us, alrready, do you?" Maleer asked.

     That _was Ryuu?_ the dragon asked, gulping nervously.

     _WHO'S ON THE BLOODY SHIP?_ Ryuu demanded after a few moments. Again, the dragons throughout the weyr roared, all except Stealth.

     "No. Not us," T'khill concluded. He lay back down to go to sleep. "It's okay, Stealth," he said. "SEP. Not our concern."

 

     As he left Oldive's office, Sebell suddenly realized he had a problem. Jaxom had confided with the MasterHarper about Ryuu, so he couldn't very well and go to Jaxom about this issue.

     Just then, Sebell saw Robinton and Lessa rushing out of the Harperhall and ran to them. Lessa kept going, running for Ramoth while Robinton slowed to wait for Sebell.

     "Master Robinton!" Sebell called out when he arrived. "What's happening? All the fire-lizards and dragons are upset! Zair and Kimi, too!"

     "I don't know!" Robinton replied.

     "Well, I have another problem," Sebell told him. "Oldive is needing some medicine that Ryuu left at his camp. But Jaxom's the only one who knows how to get there. And since you're holding his cofidence--"

     "Oh, I see your point!" Robinton said understanding. "I'd better look for the Lord Holder."

 

     _Ryuu! Your camp's in place,_ Arye reported.

     _Thanks, Arye._

     _Ryuu?_ a soft inquiry intruded into his mind.

     _Ruth!_ Ryuu responded in surprise. _How are you doing?_

     _I was going to ask you,_ Ruth said. _Why are you angry?_

     _Oh, I'm sorry I hurt you!_ Ryuu said. _It's a bit of my temper leaking out when I wasn't getting cooperation from a relative I was speaking with. Hey, while we're talking, could I ask you and Jaxom a favor?_

     _Jaxom is here with me,_ Ruth replied. _He's worried about what made me upset. All the riders are worried about their dragons._

     _Again, I'm sorry,_ Ryuu apologized. _But one of the harpers is coming for Jaxom. I had to tell these people that my heart is hurting and my medicine is in my camp. Could you please ask Jaxom to go get it for me?_ Ryuu waited as Ruth passed his request to Jaxom. There was a pause, and then Ruth answered.

     _Jaxom and I are going to get it!_ Ruth told him. _Jaxom is wise! He said we shouldn't wait for the harper! We g...!_

 

     "Uh, oh!" Sebell muttered when he saw the white dragon lift off and go _between_. "Oldive's not going to be happy about that. How are we going to get Ryuu's medicine?"

     "Lioth!" Robinton exclaimed. "He was in that same area to pick up Piemur, remember? Come on!" he led the way, rushing through the crowd.

 

     As Oldive worked on him and he waited for Ruth's return, Ryuu looked up at the fire-lizards watching him. Kimi and Zair. He smiled at them, genuinely pleased by their company, even if they were spying on him.

     _So!_ he began, smiling. _What can you guys tell me about those watch-whers?_ he asked them.

     _So sad! Such hope! Failed effort! Lost chance!_ The sudden overwhelming sensations of pity surprised him. They gave sad cries to vocalize their thoughts, as well. He knew his face registered their feelings. Oldive also saw it.

     "What's wrong?" he asked Ryuu.

     "The fire-lizards," Ryuu said. "They're remembering something sad. Puzzling." He decided to try again.

     _What about--?_ He asked, sending them the image of the tunnel-snakes. Instantly, both of them started screeching in rage. Oldive looked up in surprise.

     "Oh not again!" Oldive exclaimed.

     _Filthy Traitors! Baby Butchers! Thread Friends! Enemy! Tunnel-Snake too nice name!_ they shouted at him. Such tremendous hatred shocked him.

     "What's gotten into them?" Oldive asked out loud.

     _Is it possible for them to live together?_ Ryuu couldn't resist asking.

     At that, they went berserk. They flew about the room, screaming! Ryuu got the distinct impression of thoroughly impossible concepts as they zipped about.

     _Nice Tunnel-Snakes!_

     _Thread flying Queens!_

     _Nice--!_ There was the image of a man Ryuu didn't recognize standing near a telescope.

     _Bad Ruth!_

     _Nice Thread!_

     _Male Gold!_

     _Heavy Wherry Feathers!_

     _Nice Red Star!_ And with that, they all went _between_.

     Oldive, not knowing what was wrong with them had to take cover. He gingerly peeked above the table after they had gone.

     "What was _that?_ " he shouted.

     "Rather excitable, aren't they?" Ryuu cheerfully asked.

 

Southern Continent:

     "There it is!" Jaxom pointed out to Ruth. He had directed his dragon to the rocky outcropping where they had first sighted the man, figuring his camp had to close by. Jaxom spotted the camp in a clearing just to the south of the edifice.

     _That's strange,_ Ruth commented as he slowed to land in the small clearing. _I don't remember seeing this here before._

     "Well, there's no time to lose," Jaxom said as they landed. "Do you sense any felines?"

     _No. None are about._

     "Good!" Jaxom exclaimed, unbuckling his straps and getting down from his dragon. Ducking into the tent, Jaxom found a slim metal box and a pouch lying on a bedroll. "I had no idea someone like him would have a heart condition," he said. He grabbed them and leapt back onto Ruth.

     Just as Ruth left to go _between_ , Lioth appeared above the clearing where N'ton had picked up Piemur after the harper had killed the felines. With the peak between them, Ruth and Jaxom never saw the bronze dragon as the Weyrleader began searching for Ryuu's camp.

 

The Gather landing field:

     "Is Ramoth okay?" Robinton asked her after N'ton and Lioth flew off with Sebell.

     "Yes," Lessa replied, seemingly distracted by something. "She reports she heard someone was angry then demanding who was on a ship. But she didn't know who or where that call came from. Robinton, about the dragonrider who found Ryuu--"

     "Uh--I'm sorry, Lessa, but he looks to Fort," Robinton apologized. "I can't get involved too much in Weyr business. I hope you understand."

     Lessa's eyes bore into the MasterHarper for several moments.

     "And there are Fort riders that do me favors in getting my people in and out," Robinton added. "I don't think that I could in good conscience tell you about it. However, I have stressed to that rider the seriousness of bringing someone in from Southern."

     "I--see," Lessa slowly replied, nodding her head. "Well--I understand the sensitive nature of Harper business," she said. "It's just that I've _heard_ things lately. I think I've heard enough to understand. And you may be right that it's best I don't get involved in such matters."

     "About my investigation--" Robinton began, switching the subject back to what they were discussing before Ramoth called her away.

     "Well, I wish it weren't you," Lessa said, cutting him off with a mock frown. "But as you say, this is Harper business, too. You know best who to send on such a mission. I wish you the best of luck, and please, do be careful, MasterHarper!" she finished, reaching up to give him a kiss before turning to walk back to her dragon.

     After Lessa left, Robinton turned back toward the Hall. Just then, he saw he was in a dragon's shadow and when he looked up, he saw it was Jaxom on his white coming in to land.

     "Jaxom!" Robinton yelled. "You just missed Sebell! We needed you to go to Ryuu's camp to find his medicine!"

     "I've got it right here!" Jaxom said, holding up a slim metal container.

     "You do?" Robinton asked astonished.

     "Ryuu asked Ruth if we could go get it for him," Jaxom explained.

     "He did? Oh, that's right! You said Ryuu could speak to Ruth," Robinton recalled. "Well, I'd better get this to Oldive."

 

     Later, back on the heights, Ruth twitched his tail in annoyance as an insect flew about his forks. It must've ridden on him when he returned from Ryuu's camp and somehow survived the cold of _between_.

     _Annoying bug!_ he shouted at it. _GO AWAY!_ There was an audible pop and the V-tol was no longer there.

 

     "I can't thank you enough, Lord Jaxom," Ryuu told him as the man patted the pocket in which he had placed his medicine.

     Before he could respond, Jaxom felt something slam into his shoulder.

     "Ow!" Jaxom exclaimed. Ryuu looked at the young man and saw a nasty stain on his tunic. Suddenly, Dorse and several of his buddies, who had been mingling nearby, began laughing at the Lord Holder's misfortune.

     _JAXOM! Are you okay?_ Ruth anxiously asked him.

     "I'm alright, Ruth!" he quickly replied to calm his dragon. "Just a bug." Jaxom looked crossly at Dorse and his companions. But they were too far away and in the wrong place to have thrown the crawler to hit him there. And it sure stung like it would if somebody had really thrown a rock instead!

 

     _Ooops! I should be more careful where I throw those things,_ Ruth thought to himself as he sheepishly ducked his head. Then the dragon noticed how Ryuu was giving him serious scrutiny. Finally, the stranger grinned and turned to help Jaxom clean off the mess.

 

     "Beautiful decoration, Lord Jaxom!" Dorse called out. "Too bad you only got one!"

     "Nothing for you to get concerned with, Dorse," Jaxom replied. Jaxom saw Ryuu pause to glare at the group of kids and they suddenly got the idea of going somewhere else.

     "Thanks," Jaxom sighed.

     "Friends of yours?" the man inquired. Jaxom grunted non-committally.

     "I'd better get this washed off before it stains," Jaxom explained, excusing himself.

     "Of course," Ryuu replied as he left to mingle in the Gather.

 

     "Oldive," Robinton began after Ryuu left the Healer's office, "I have the strangest feeling about that Ryuu character. Didn't you notice anything odd when you examined him?"

     "Now, Robinton, you know I'm not supposed to divulge a patient's condition to anyone," Oldive said, smiling. Then the smile faded. "But now that you mention it, I _did_ feel something uneasy about seeing him again--like something was missing. I didn't have much time to consider it when Zair and all other the fire-lizards suddenly went crazy."

     Robinton started at that. His earlier conversation with Lessa had been cut short when she had to rush out to check on Ramoth. That can't be coincidence. And Zair did show up a few moments after Jaxom took off to go to Ryuu's camp, going on about some impossible matter he had heard.

     Robinton had asked Zair what he thought of Ryuu, and his fire-lizard suddenly settled down and gave happy chirps. The MasterHarper couldn't help but wonder about the puzzle. Whatever misgivings he and others may have about Ryuu, the fire-lizards seemed to like him.

     "Thank you Oldive," Robinton said, departing.

     Ryuu was waiting for him when Robinton exited the Healercraft Hall.

     "I assume I'm still needing an escort?" Ryuu asked, tilting his head. "But Sebell's nowhere to be found."

     "He left on Lioth to search your camp when he missed Jaxom," Robinton explained.

     Ryuu mouthed a silent, "oh!" and nodded his understanding. Then the man's head jerked up. "Ah! Here they come now!"

     Robinton looked up just in time to see N'ton's Lioth emerge from _between_. Then he looked at Ryuu, getting a very odd feeling that made his skin crawl. _How could he have known...?_ Robinton wondered. Robinton watched as Ryuu checked the container of his medicine before closing it and putting it away. He thought it seemed a rather obsessive habbit for the man to have.

     "Shall we greet them?" Ryuu eagerly asked when he was finished.

     They met at the landing site and Sebell began to apologize that he couldn't find it.

     "That's okay," Ryuu said. He looked up at Lioth. "He's a beauty, that one," he said in awe.

     "Thank you," N'ton replied.

     _Who are you? What do you want?_ Lioth demanded.

     _Just a friend,_ Ryuu replied, smiling at the great bronze. _I'm here to help._

     They thanked N'ton for transporting Sebell and let the Weyrleader see to his dragon.

     "Ryuu's already got it, Sebell," Robinton explained to him as they walked away. "He bespoke Ruth and asked him to go fetch it."

     "I see," Sebell replied slowly, his eyes narrowing suspiciously on Ryuu. Robinton couldn't blame him for being upset at wasting his time digging about in the jungle. "And did he recover your money, too?"

     "Oh, yes, he did," Ryuu said cheerfully, pulling out a pouch. From its limp condition, Robinton didn't think there were many marks, if any. "It's not much, I'm afraid," Ryuu's expression shifted to apology as he opened the drawstring. He shook the contents into his hand, and Robinton's eyes got huge when he saw it. There were three cut diamonds, a sapphire, and five rubies, each as large as his smallest fingernail.

     He glanced at Sebell to see his journeyman was equally astonished.

 

     Later, Robinton looked for Menolly and found her and Piemur getting some bubbly pies at a stall.

     "Ah! Menolly!" he called out when he spotted her. Catching up to them, he put his arms over her shoulders and Piemur's. "Just the person I need!"

     "Yes, MasterHarper?" she asked puzzled.

     "Menolly, I've wanted to learn all my life, but just never had the time," Robinton explained. "However, if you don't mind, could you please teach me how to sail?" The junior harpers looked at each other, uncertain of what to do.

 

Fort Hold:

     Down in the caverns of Fort, a tunnel-snake managed to snatch some drudge's clothing from the laundry without being seen. A couple minutes later, it emerged from the snake tunnels in to a nearly empty and unlit corridor. Its eyes began to glow, as did the eyes of a second tunnel-snake, giving illumination to the area.

     "Here, Mistress," it said, putting down the clothing before the nude young woman. "You will have to hide among the humans until the aliens lose your trail."

     "Who are these people?" she nervously asked her monitor. "What do they want?" She trembled in terror at how she had almost been captured.

     A few years ago, she heard a tremendously powerful voice in her head demanding she return home. Then, just a couple of months ago, her monitors, a pair of lifelong artificial life-form companions she brought to this world when she settled here with the other colonists, reported they were detecting signals from a space craft. There were demands for them to respond, but they all stayed hidden, not knowing if some enemy from her ancient past had found her out and was hunting her down. To make matters worse, last during the last sevenday, her monitors reported the source of the signals had arrived on the planet itself, spreading out in a definite search pattern.

     It was such a dreadful thing. The colony's technology level had deteriorated over the centuries to the point where no one should suspect any being was living on this planet. But now, here she was, exposed and defenseless, with the exception of her wondrous monitors. But she was handicapped by unpopularity of their form. If she had to mingle with the descendants of the original colonists, she would truly be defenseless! So she hid in the one place certain to be avoided: among the watch-whers.

     Over time, the watch-whers learned to leave these three tunnel-snakes alone, but that all others were fair game. In turn, she and her companions helped the whers whenever stupid and nasty kids would tease and torment the poor creatures by destroying the glows tossed down the stairs.

     Then, suddenly, _HE_ showed up! One of the very people hunting for her! And worse yet, he could _Change_ as she could! And he had sophisticated scanning equipment! Fortunately, he didn't seem to realize he had located her, but her monitors advised her otherwise.

     "His metabolism spiked when he conducted the scan!" one of them reported. "He was shocked by having _Changed_ in our presence."

     "But he said--" she responded. She had been rushed to her chambers and _Changed_ to human form to converse with them. At that moment, her monitors reacted to a new signal.

     "He has sent for others to hunt us!" they cried, driving her to a safer location. "There is some sort of matter transport occurring in the stairwell!" Beams from their eyes collapsed the cavern after their departure.

     Later, when they brought her some clothing, they made plans.

     "We were able to analyze the scanning equipment," they explained to her. "The dragons and their relatives cause severe distortion to the circuitry. Essentially, their devices are useless beyond twenty meters, or so. We believe if you can hide among the dragons, you'll be safe. Safer still, if you can Impress one of the creatures."

     She looked at her monitors in horror.

     "If I Impress, I'll be known among the Pernese! And I won't be able to hide after these people go away! And what happens when my dragon dies? It's a life-long telepathic bond!"

     "We can deal with that later," one of them said. "Right now, you need to find a location to hide and remain until these aliens go away. If they're hunting us covertly, then they won't be interested in revealing themselves to the Pern Colony. We have that advantage."

     "When you can, go to the landmark the dragonriders use for teleport training," the other told her. "We will signal you when you arrive. Good luck, Mistress!"

     "Oh, No!" she suddenly shouted.

     "Mistress! What's wrong?" one of her monitors asked. The girl had dropped to the ground, trembling and hugging herself. Terror was showing on her face. After a few seconds, she shuddered even more violently. " _Mistress!_ " her Tunnel-snakes shouted.

     "He-he just screamed in anger!" she whispered, fearful the man could hear her. "Then he demanded to know who was on his ship! _HE'S LOOKING FOR ME! THEY'RE ALL LOOKING FOR ME! WHO ARE THEY? WHAT DO THEY WANT?_ " she cried.

     " _MISTRESS!_ " one of the units shouted to get her attention. "You must be brave! They're not superior to us! They're just _like_ us! Nothing beyond that! They're not infallible!"

     "But there's _more_ of them!" she fearfully responded. "And they're _hunting_ me!"

     "But they are being covert!" her monitor said. "We don't know if they want to harm you, or not."

     "We can't take the chance!"

     "If they wanted to harm you, it would be easy to obliterate this planet from orbit," the artificial life form countered. "We will continue to monitor their behavior and react accordingly."

     "But then, why did he get so angry?" she demanded.

     "Unknown," the Tunnel-snake replied. "As we said, we will continue to monitor them. Try to meet us at the landmark. The time it takes for your dragon to mature and receive teleport training should give us time to determine their motives."

 

Fort Hold Gather:

     Late afternoon had Ryuu standing midway between Fort and the Harperhall complex, staring at the hold gates, watching people go in and out. The guards were stopping everyone to confirm their business with the hold. They were still nervous, as no one could account how Puma and the others managed to elude them.

     _Somewhere inside,_ he lamented to himself. _You're somewhere inside. We just need to have the chance to talk with you and we can all go home._

     "Is something the matter?" Sebell asked.

     "No," Ryuu muttered. "Nothing that I can fix at this stage."

     Sadly turning away, he spotted Robinton and two of his subordinates just as they sighted him. The tanned kid started then forced himself to relax.

 

     Ryuu didn't notice a drudge step out of the Hold entrance carrying a load of garbage to the refuse pile. But she spotted him instantly and watched him join the group of harpers.

     Keeping him under scrutiny, she made her way to the refuse pit and set down her pail, then continued to slink away.

 

     "Ah! Robinton!" Ryuu called out approaching them.

     "Ryuu! How are you feeling?" Robinton inquired.

     "Much better! Much better, thank you! And thanks to Ruth and Jaxom, too," he added, patting one of his pockets. "He got my medicine from my camp. Oh, and thank you, Melody. That water helped. I'm sorry we didn't get properly introduced. I heard you singing, earlier. Very nice! Very nice, indeed."

     Menolly was at a loss for what to say, stunned by the stranger's words.

     "Uh, her name is Menolly," Sebell said, protectively taking one of her arms.

     "Really?" Ryuu asked, puzzled. "With such a sweet singing voice like hers? And with so many talented friends? If her name wasn't Melody, I would've bet it had to be Beauty," he said, taking her other hand to kiss. Menolly's gold and one of her bronze fire-lizards gave questioning squeals and Menolly's face instantly turned beet-red.

     "Now _that_ is impressive!" Ryuu said, raising an eyebrow. "I've got a niece somewhere who's good at changing her color like that! And hello to you, too, Beauty and Diver," he said, greeting them.

     "Might I ask what your intentions are, Ryuu?" Sebell challenged.

     "Oh, believe me, I'm much too old for such a young thing as Menolly," Ryuu said, holding his arms in surrender. "I would never seek to molest so sweet a young lady." _Your fire-lizards, on the other hand..._ he added to himself. The fire-lizards all chirruped in surprise and stared at him with rapidly whirling eyes. He chuckled at their reaction and gave Beauty a wink.

     Inwardly, however, he groaned at the thought of how his partners would've reacted to his ideas. "But it is entertaining to see them blush," he finished. Then he turned to Piemur with a skeptical look.

     "Haven't we met before?" he asked, and the Journeyman gulped. Ryuu chuckled. "Perhaps, but just never introduced. Hello, I'm Ryuu," he said, extending his hand.

     "Journeyman Piemur," he said, taking it.

     "And this must be Farli," Ryuu stated, holding his fingers up to Piemur's gold so she could inspect him. After a second to sniff at him, she bowed her head to have her eye ridges caressed.

     "You make friends with the fire-lizards fairly easily," Sebell remarked.

     "I like cats," Ryuu said, finishing with a finger stroking down Farli's neck. "And dragons," he concluded.

     "Better than your friends?" Sebell asked. Ryuu shrugged.

     "The others tend to be a little skittish," Ryuu replied with a smirk. "Give them time. They'll get used to them."

     "How do felines and dragons relate?" Menolly asked.

     "I like them," Ryuu responded, looking at her as if that was enough explanation. There was a considerable pause when it became apparent that was all the explanation they were going to get.

     "Have you been to the gather?" Robinton asked, trying to reduce the obvious tension. A guarded opponent will be too careful to slip up, and despite his apparent easy-going attitude, Ryuu was obviously too guarded.

     "No, I haven't!" Ryuu said, cheerfully. "I've been meaning to, but with all that happened with the watch-wher, I just haven't had the chance. Is it okay?" he asked.

     "Come on!" Robinton said, guiding the others as well. "We'll show you around."

     Ryuu was easily distracted by the images of dragons or fire-lizards on just about every item that half the time that he frequently had to ask someone to repeat what was said. They all had an enjoyable time getting to know Ryuu, but then Piemur asked him a question.

     "So, how did you get out of that pride of felines?"

     Ryuu suddenly stopped, looking away from them.

     "I don't like hurting them," he quietly said. "It wasn't their fault." The look on his face reminded them of the face of a dragonless rider being asked what it felt like to lose his partner. "They didn't ask for that to happen to them," he finished.

     Menolly spotted a wine stall.

     "Would you like to get some Benden white, Ryuu?" she asked, trying to soothe over the awkward moment.

     "Is it any good?" Ryuu muttered.

     "'Is it any good?'" Robinton demanded with a bellow. "Now what kind of question is that? Now granted, last season wasn't as exquisite as two Turns past. But I'll have you know Raid's worst will still stack up against anyone else's best!"

     "And who else but Robinton could claim to be able to prove it?" Piemur asked. Laughing, they were able to lighten even Ryuu's mood.

     _I found him!_ Wolf sent to everyone. _He's bearing 219 relative to my position._

     Ryuu carefully watched the harpers as he slipped his scanner out of his pocket and opened it. In a couple of seconds, he closed it in disgust, and returned it to his pocket.

     _That's_ me _, you're detecting!_ Ryuu replied.

     "What's that?" the sharp-eyed Piemur asked.

     _How the hell do you know that?_ Wolf demanded.

     "Oh, this?" Ryuu asked, pulling out a slim metal case. "It's my case for carrying my pills," he said, opening it for his inspection. "Sort of an old habit of mine to constantly check it," he said, putting the case back into his pocket, remembering to slip the pills to the outside of the near-identical scanner.

     _Because my scanner's looking for scanners_ as well _as our gene signatures! You're just on the other side of the stall from me, bearing 019 at a distance of seventy horamters!_ Ryuu responded, sending his irritation through the link. _When you find a gene signature_ without _a scanner, that's our target! By the way, you should know we're looking for a female._

     _HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW THAT?_ Wolf's reaction was enough to get the attention of some of the dragons and fire-lizards in the vicinity. Everyone around Ryuu had to contend with the suddenly nervous creatures.

     _Because,_ Ryuu told him, smirking as he watched the harpers try to calm their friends, _my scanner registered_ three _of those tunnel-snakes. Two of them were female. One female has to be our target and the other two creatures have to be her monitors, a male and female each._

     After Robinton and the others had calmed down the fire-lizards, he paid for the wine and presented a cup to Ryuu. "Try this," he said.

     "Hmm, not bad," Ryuu replied after tasting. "Normally, I don't drink wine, and I prefer a red when I do, but I think I could get used to this."

     _By the way, what are you & Puma doing in here?_ Ryuu sent to Wolf. _You're supposed to be scanning for the girl...whatever she's become._

     "'Get used to it?'" Robinton asked indignantly.

     _Trying to get some of the local cash,_ Wolf sent back.

     "I have my own reasons for not drinking," Ryuu explained. "But this does taste quite good. Not harsh or too sweet at all. Very mild." Ryuu took another sip and his evaluation seemed to pacify the MasterHarper.

     _How so?_ Ryuu asked while he drank from the cup.

     _Selling some dragon figurines._

     Ryuu's eyes nearly popped from their sockets. He had only a split second to decide between spitting out the wine and swallowing it whole. He chose not to give insult to the wine or the MasterHarper and drained the cup. Setting the cup down, he worked his lips to the motions of saying, "'cuse me!" as he gurgled the mouthful of wine and quickly pushed through the group.

     "Ryuu!" Robinton shouted. "That's a _sipping_ wine!" But Ryuu was rushing into the passage to get to the other side of the stalls. They all quickly followed.

     Ryuu had managed to swallow the mouthful by the time he reached the other booth. He was nearly shocked speechless by what he saw, but not nearly speechless enough for Wolf and Puma's liking.

     "JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Ryuu bellowed; his face a livid purple, startling everyone there: Puma, Wolf, the poor trader manning his stall, a dragonrider holding a dragon figure in the middle of his examination, and the four harpers just arrived behind him.

 

     As the stranger moved in among the stalls and tents, she lost sight of the man. Frustrated, she looked about and saw she was near the network of maintenance trails zigzagging up the cliff face. Without a moment of hesitation, she started up them.

     That she managed to do so without drawing suspicion was by sheer luck. Her drudge outfit helped her blend into the shadows crawling along the rough surface. Her quiet and sure movements failed to attract anyone's attention while the excitement of the Gather kept everyone occupied. And no one would suspect anyone of trying to scale the cliff with all those dragons looming above.

     Reaching the fire-heights, she finally spotted Ryuu rushing through the maze of tents and carts. His angered bellow reached even this distance. Fearful, she climbed over one last obstacle and hunkered down to conceal herself while she watched him.

 

     Sympath awoke in surprise when she felt something crawl across her tail and nestle in between her member and her leg. Her eyelids snapped open and she could make out a human female fearfully peeking above the tail ridges to stare out at the chaotic, human-made mess temporarily constructed on the riverbank.

     _Hello?_ she asked, startling the human female. Surprised, the creature glanced up to see the rainbow flashing eyes of the green dragon looking down on her. Only then, did the girl take stock of where she was or what she had done. She only realized now that she had come not to be just surrounded by dragons, but that she was crouched between Sympath's thigh and tail.

     "Sorry," the girl muttered, returning her fearful gaze on the Gather below.

     _You are afraid,_ Sympath observed, watching as the human focused all her attention to one specific spot in the Gather. _But not of me. Can I help you?_

     "Not unless you can keep me from _him_ ," the girl absently responded. There was an image sent, and Sympath was startled to know the male human that frightened the female. Ruth had told her of him! This girl was frightened of Ryuu!

     _I can help if you wish it,_ Sympath told her. The human female slowly looked up and stared at her.

 

     "How are you feeling?" Lessa asked F'lar upon arriving at her weyr. It was early evening in this part of the world.

     "Better," he responded. "That was quite a jolt. I wonder were it came from."

     "I had some words with Robinton about this Ryuu," Lessa stated, frowning. "He's worried. I hear the dragons are worried. It's making me start worrying."

     "How so?" F'lar asked.

     "Remember how we were concerned with the Oldtimers stirring up trouble?" she asked him. "Well, Robinton had some of his people down at Southern keeping an eye on things. So far, not much seems to be going on at the Weyr or Hold, but something is definitely afoot down there. Robinton is concerned that Ryuu may have found something that could give us trouble."

     "In what way?"

     "Well, there were those old mines we found," she said, trying to remember all the details of the conversation. "Evidently, there are other signs of settlements. One of Robinton's scouts found an abandoned cot hold with some terrifying devices. After investigating them, the cot was destroyed in an explosion."

     "What?" F'lar exclaimed. "Was anyone hurt?"

     "Fortunately no," Lessa assured him. "But the scout came across Ryuu down there, and suspects he may have gotten something from that cot before the scout found it."

     "Then why didn't the man take care of the situation when they were down there?" F'lar asked.

     "Unfortunately, a dragonrider picked Ryuu up before Robinton's man could challenge him."

     "A Southern rider? An Oldtimer?" F'lar asked, astonished. That the dissidents could get something so dangerous...

     "No, a Northern rider," Lessa said. "Specifically, one that looks to Fort."

     "Who?" F'lar demanded.

     "Robinton wouldn't tell me. Evidently, he has the rider's confidence," Lessa grimly said, "but I have my suspicions. Remember the dragons are talking about Ryuu, and I can hear them. Our little white friend is the one most worried about him."

     "Jaxom and Ruth?" F'lar exclaimed. "Absolutely, we better have a few words with the young man!"

     "Well, I think we've got a few more important things to worry about than Jaxom going South. There is still the matter that Ryuu apparently can hear dragons, too. However, the man told Robinton that he was from Half Circle Seahold. Now I've _never_ heard of anyone from that part of the world having that kind of power. And there are no records of anyone from there having that kind of power." The look on F'lar's face was one of dawning comprehension and apprehension.

     "He's from Ruatha," F'lar concluded. "Or one of the other full blooded holds. But with so much of the power, he'd have to be Benden or Ruatha."

     "My money's on Ruatha," Lessa nodded. "I suppose Fax _might_ have missed someone in all his blood letting, but Ryuu never denied he was Oldtimer. I suspect he's one of Mardra's relatives. And he's apparently taken a particular fancy to Ruth and Jaxom! And it gets worse. Evidently, there are at least three others, maybe more of them milling about."

     "The Oldtimers are planning to usurp Jaxom and throw Ruatha into contention!" F'lar exclaimed. "What's Robinton doing about it?"

     "Unfortunately, there's not too much he or anyone can do other than keep a close eye on Ryuu," Lessa spat. "But that still leaves those others who are allied with him who may be able to operate freely. Before I left, I had a talk with N'ton to have his people keep close watch on our young Lord Holder and Ruth. Robinton also said that he's going to investigate that cot hold his man found to get a clearer picture of what Ryuu might have. I told him he has our full support, but he stressed that it's better to be discreet at this moment."

     "Well, I think first thing in the morning, a full wing of Benden riders will discreetly visit Fort hold," F'lar said. Lessa grinned.

     "And Ruatha," Lessa said, laughing. "And we'll have N'ton supply reliefs. That should unsettle any plans Ryuu and the others might have!"

 

     "JUST WHO THE HELL AUTHORIZED YOU TO SELL THOSE?" Ryuu yelled, "BECAUSE IT'S SURE AS MY FLAMING SHIT _WASN'T ME!_ "

     "Calm down, Ryuu!" Puma said.

     "CALM MY BLOODY FLAMES!" Ryuu said, rushing up to take the statue from the dragonrider. It depicted two dragons swerving about each other in a manner that could be interpreted as either fighting or mating. "YOU GOT THIS FROM MY CABIN!"

     "IT'S A _COPY_ , RYUU!" Puma shouted. Ryuu was about to yell something else, then stopped. He looked at the figurine, turning it over for a look closer.

     "I made a copy of some of yours!" Puma said a bit calmer, seeing Ryuu had stopped to listen. "These are not yours! Besides, it's not like you don't have enough!"

     "The reason I've got so many is I _don't sell them!_ " Ryuu hissed through grinding teeth. Then he glanced at the dragonrider and the other people about staring at him.

     "Sorry," he meekly said, handing the statue back to the dragonrider. "They didn't let me know they had done that." He looked darkly at Puma, shaking his finger at her, saying, "You and I are going to have a _long_ talk when this is over!"

     "So who are you?" the dragonrider asked Ryuu.

     "I'm Ryuu," he cheerfully said, spinning about and reaching to shake the dragonrider's hand. "You've already met Puma and Wolf," he added when they finished shaking hands. The sudden shift in mood shocked the green rider speechless. "They're a couple of my relatives. And these are MasterHarper Robinton, Sebell, Piemur, Melody--I mean, Menolly, and Zair, Kimi, Farli, Beauty, and Diver, with Rocky, Poll, and Uncle whizzing about overhead," he named the fire-lizards in rapid succession. He turned to look at the merchant in the booth with a puzzled expression.

     "I don't believe we've met, yet," Ryuu said to him, and then his face grew dark when he saw the other statues on the bench and he quickly spun on Puma.

     "A _very_ long talk!" he said to her with a growl.

     "So did this young lady do all these?" the dragonrider asked.

     "Evidently," Ryuu said, tilting one of the dragon statues sitting at the stall to inspect it. "All of mine have my sign to clearly show they belong to me. These don't."

     "Ryuu made the originals," Puma explained. "Mine aren't nearly as good as his, but we got four marks for them, Ryuu."

     "Well they were close enough to fool me," Ryuu said. _Uh-oh!_ he thought, feeling suddenly dizzy. _And so...it begins!_

     "Well this is very detailed and intricate work," the dragonrider said. "I take it that she's your apprentice?"

     "Apprentice?" Ryuu asked, gripping the bench to steady himself. "Oh, no! No, she's just my cousin. I'm not have any rank. None of us do."

     "Well this is still very impressive work," the dragonrider said. "I'll give you two marks for this. What do you say?" he asked Ryuu.

     _I say I'm drunk,_ Ryuu had a fleeting thought pass through his mind, but he quickly suppressed it as he leaned against the stall.

     "Well, it's not mine to bargain," Ryuu replied. "They're her work," he gestured to Puma. His vision started to swirl and he settled back to enjoy the buzz.

     "That's very generous of you, sir!" she said with a trembling voice. "Thank you! Dragonrider--?"

     "Green rider E'tic," he replied, shaking her hand and handing her the marks. "From Fort. And thank you!"

     "MasterHarper," E'tic greeted in passing.

     "Have a good day, E'tic," Robinton said. "Well, so this is Puma!" he said after the dragonrider left. "And Wolf. I've so wanted to get the chance to meet you. I've heard so much about you both."

 

     E'tic called for his green. He looked appraisingly at the carving as he walked to the landing zone for the dragons.

     _T'ledon will sure appreciate this,_ he happily thought to himself. He sensed his green had landed, and walked up to meet her.

     "What do you think, Sympath?" he asked her, holding the statue up for inspection.

     _That is for Serith's rider?_ the dragon asked. _It's very pretty. Whoever did it knows dragons._

     "She sure does," he said, gripping the harness to climb on. Halfway up, however, the sight of a naked foot stopped him cold.

     "Hello?" he asked looking up at the young woman astride what he thought was _his_ dragon. Not the usual-looking dragonrider, either. This one looked like a kitchen drudge.

     _E'tic, I needed to tell you something,_ Sympath told him. _I'm sorry if you were too busy to hear me. I know we're not currently doing a Search, but she came to me._

     "My name is--Lisa," she said to him.

     "Are you certain?" E'tic asked his dragon. "She seems frightened."

     _Not of me,_ Sympath replied. _Not of other dragons, either._

 

     Ryuu quietly amused himself as the Harpers interrogated Puma and Wolf. He fed them what information he could to answer the questions put to them.

     Then, it started with just a giggle. It wasn't anything specific that Ryuu found funny, but when they all turned to stare at him, it became full blown laughter.

     "Ryuu?" Robinton inquired. His laughter became guffaws. Their confused looks at each other sent him to the dirt.

     "Ryuu!" Wolf shouted. "What the hell?"

     "Th-th-the...l-looks..." Ryuu tried to get out between his breaths, "...on y-y-your...face--ces!"

     "What's wrong with him?" Menolly asked. Her fire-lizards were as puzzled as everyone else. They told her it wasn't because he was happy, but saw something funny.

     "Wh-wh-en...I came--on you with...that rider!" Ryuu tried again to speak.

     "He's drunk!" Puma spat.

     "On _one glass of wine?_ " Robinton exclaimed, incredulously.

     "He had _that_ much?" Wolf demanded.

     "He gulped it all down at once when I guess he heard your voices from the other side of the stalls," Piemur volunteered.

     "No wonder!" Puma exclaimed in disgust. She and Wolf went to haul Ryuu to his feet. The man's hilarity was slowly starting to get back under his control again.

     "I told you," Ryuu said, pointing to Robinton, "I h-ha-had my reasons...for not drinking!" He almost collapsed in a new fit of giggles despite his friends' aid.

     Suddenly, the three strangers stiffened and looked at each other in horror.

     "Oh, no!" Puma whispered.

     "The Gateway!" Wolf quietly said to Ryuu.

     "Shit!" Ryuu muttered quickly sobering.

     Robinton and the others looked at them with concern. Puma and Wolf had evident horror and fear written on their faces, but Ryuu's face became like chiseled stone. He refused to look at anyone, or anything. Obviously there was something greatly troubling him. Walking past, Ryuu held his head down in defeat. The fire-lizards crooned in sadness as he passed.

     "Ryuu, are you alright?" Robinton asked.

     "We lost," Ryuu said, kicking a protruding stone down the path. "It's my fault. We lost."

     "What are you talking about?" Sebell asked, confused. "Lost what?" Ryuu looked at him and Robinton with that chiseled face.

     "I came across the person we were looking for," he explained. "I didn't know it at the moment it happened, but once I realized it, it was too late. We had to move carefully, so as not to cause--panic." He broke off, turned and walked away. Ryuu stopped about a dragonlength away.

     "She's gone," Ryuu said to them over his shoulder. "She just left on a dragon and now can be anywhere on this planet. She knows we're looking for her and has gone into hiding."

     "Why is she hiding?" Sebell demanded. "What does she have to fear from you?" Ryuu looked down at the rock he had kicked earlier.

     "She just doesn't understand our intention," Wolf spoke up.

     "We just want to bring her home," Puma added.

     "I'm just getting too old for this shit," Ryuu muttered, giving the stone another kick down the path. Turning, he left, going down another alley between the stalls and disappeared into the crowd.

     "Is there anything--?" Robinton started to ask Puma and Wolf as he turned around, but stopped, stunned, when he saw they had vanished, too. "Where'd they go?" he asked.

     "And _you_ lost them this time!" Sebell pointed out to Robinton, grinning as he ran after Ryuu. "Now you know what _I_ went through!"

 

Ista Weyr:

     T'khill and Maleer woke with a start. Their emotions pulled the sleepy dragon out of his slumber, and Stealth lifted his head, cocking it in a question.

     _What's wrong?_ he asked. _Is Ryuu hurting you again?_

     "The Gateway!" Maleer whispered in fear.

     "The ship said Ryuu rode the white one when it teleported...it's back!" T'khill said with a sigh of relief. "He must've ridden another dragon."

     _All hands,_ Puma called, sounding dejected. _The target has escaped. If anyone's in a position to observe the regional capitols, look for a dragon bringing in a female passenger from Fort Hold and report immediately!_

     "Oh, no!" Maleer whispered. She looked about for anyone to observe her and got out of bed.

     "Stay herre," she said to them. "I'll check it out." She slipped out of the barracks.

     The sun had finally set and the stars had begun to emerge from the indigo sky, but there wasn't any sign of dragons having landed recently.

     "Can I help you?" a voice asked, startling her. A rider she had seen before, but hadn't caught his name approached her.

     "Oh, sorrry!" Maleer exclaimed. "No, I was just getting some airr. Couldn't sleep."

     "No?" M'xell asked. "After all that happened with Impression?"

     "Well," Maleer said, slowly. "It wasn't I who Imprressed."

     "Ah, I see," he said. "You're T'khill's wife."

     "Hmm," she said grimacing. "That's sounding ominous. Have we crreated that bad a rreputation, alrready?"

     M'xell burst out laughing.

     "Well, if it wasn't you, it'd be one of the others, I'm sure!" he said, finally getting his guffaws under control. "I don't think there's ever been a Hatching that didn't have someone 'creating a reputation'!" Maleer purred her laughter along with him, and he stopped to listen to her. _Such a strange accent,_ M'xell thought to himself.

     "That's good that we haven't done anything too outlandish," she said. "Oh, by the way, has anyone come frrom the Gatherr at Forrt? I have some frriends I'm expecting to show up."

     "Hmm, no I haven't seen anyone," M'xell said thinking. "I'll keep an eye out, if you like. Could you give me their names?"

     "Puma and Arrye," Maleer replied. But she knew the person they're looking for didn't come to Ista, and passed that info to Puma.

 

Harperhall:

     About midnight, Ryuu returned to the room they had provided him, but he still couldn't relax. He had visitors.

     "I suppose they sent you guys to spy on me, hmm?" he asked the fire-lizards sitting on the dining table. They cheeped in apology and begged him not to send them away. Ryuu smiled in appreciation and reached out to scritch the forehead of the bronze near him. Zair instantly began humming in contentment.

     "Of course I won't send you away, Zair," he said, chuckling. Ryuu observed two fire-lizards, Kimi and the bronze Diver, another of Menolly's swarm, were curled up together already asleep.

     "I'm sorry that while I'm not really in the mood for company, you guys are certainly welcome. Thank you all for being here," he told them.

     After losing the chance to persuade the missing crewman to join them, he had wandered aimlessly about the Gather. He knew when Sebell and some of the other colonists had located him and shadowed his movements, but he didn't care about playing with them anymore. He was too disappointed to enjoy the spy-games anymore.

     He wanted to rage. He wanted to scream. He even wanted to trigger the Gateway, and change to his gold dragon form and depart the area in the most spectacular way possible. If they wanted to see what he and his people were about, _let them!_

     But _something_ inside held him back, held tight to his leash, not letting him lose hope; held him down until that _something_ had calmed the raging fire of his failure.

     Eventually, he began to plan, and despite having no idea what _she_ would do, still, he developed his plans. That act comforted him, and toward the middle of the night, he had a fair idea of how to proceed again, and that _something_ finally released him to move about on his own again. Tired from the exertion, he returned to the room they had assigned him.

     The other two golds could no longer suppress their desire and leapt over to push Zair out of the way, giving the bronze a hiss, so they could enjoy the attention his marvelous fingers gave. Ryuu chuckled.

     "Better watch out, Beauty and Farli," he chided them. " _His_ friend is _your_ friends' boss!" With thumb and little finger of one hand, he had the two queens mesmerized while his other hand resumed Zair's caressing. He soon had these three curled up together, snoozing.

     Ryuu closed his eyes to concentrate on his surroundings. Once Ryuu was satisfied these five were the only ones watching him he stepped over to the desk to get to work. He got out of his shoes and relaxed as he sat down in the chair provided.

     "Robinton, if you want to spy on someone, you'll have to have a more reliable set of eyes," Ryuu quietly muttered as he pulled out his scanner to review the day's work.

     After coordinating with the _Panthro_ and collecting the others' scanner readings, he started to piece together what went wrong.

     Since that initial spike from the creatures in the watch-wher's lair, he hadn't detected any sign of his quarry.

     During his checkup in Medical, Puma gathered everyone she could collect and had them transported in to surround and search the Gather.

     Aside from the occasions where his people picked up each other as they blundered into each other's zone, there were no other incidents. But when _she_ left, she never did come within scanning range.

     Which was odd, for at the time she left, his people had a ring of coverage completely surrounding the Gather and the area where the dragons landed to come and go with their riders. It was too risky to approach the fortress where she had last been seen, but for her to get from there to the landing field and depart meant she had somehow evaded that ring of bubbles.

     His time-lapse review of the coverage zone indicated there was no way she should've sneaked through without being detected. And with Puma, Wolf, and himself wandering inside the Gather, if she was there, they should've come across her.

     Glancing at the sleeping fire-lizards, Ryuu suddenly got an idea.

     "Of course, three-dimensional thinking!" he muttered to himself. He pounced on his scanner and reprogrammed it to display the coverage zone in 3-D against a reconstruction of the area. Then he saw it. With ranges limited to a hundred Horamters, and the valleys between the bubbles shifting about--there it was: the time where she departed and there was a deep grove in the scanning zone facing the fortress--not that it probably would've made any difference.

     "Damn!" he hissed. "The dragons! That's how she did it! She climbed up the cliff and got one of the dragons to carry her in and out and away. The dragons coming in to land and take off couldn't be covered because they were vertically out of range!"

     He sat back, understanding why they failed. Just dumb luck! So to recover from this is going to take lots more luck and lots of time. Gazing at the fire-lizards again, he got another idea.

     " _Panthro_ ," he asked, signaling with his communicator, "can you pick up my transponder?"

     "Affirmative," the vessel's computer replied. "Do you desire a retrieval?"

     "No," Ryuu said. "I'm just curious. I know the natives are the source of the subspace distortions. I happen to be sitting right next to five of them. But I was wondering, could you still track a transponder if it was injected into the creatures?"

     "The modules you have are primed for subspatial tracking," the ship answered. "However, when you were riding the white, tracking was totally lost when you teleported."

     "That's because that dimension is a subtemporal void," Ryuu responded. "My scanner indicated the temporal dimensions are amplified."

     "Subtemporal travel would prevent the tracking of devices calibrated for hyper-spatial dimensions," the ship confirmed. "It would take time for me to manufacture a transponder calibrated for amplified temporal components. However, with current technology, it would be too large to safely inject in a creature smaller than your largest draconic specimen."

     _Which means Ruth or the other dragons,_ Ryuu considered.

     "But the current transponders can still track them anywhere on the planet?" Ryuu asked.

     "Affirmative," the ship replied.

     Ryuu pulled out his injector and approached the fire-lizards.

     Ryuu winced as the fire-lizards stirred and woke up with confused looks at their bellies where he had injected them.

     "It's okay, fellas," he told them as he scanned their condition. "Go back to sleep." He had made certain the transponders were injected between their internal organs, and was satisfied with the result. But then a new life form came within range of the scanner. Ryuu scowled at the readings. He adjusted his settings and sure enough, he detected a human outside the window as well and the native he had detected zipping about.

     _Clever of them to keep the creature at a distance, so I wouldn't hear it,_ he thought to himself. He watched its flight path go out of range again, but the human was stealthily approaching the window to where he could see in.

     _That's the problem with these things being at such a short range,_ he thought, moving silently around the furniture to stand to the left of the open window. _They might as well not be working at all!_ In an effort to boost the gain of the devices, he had to set it to look for only one species at a time. That's how the human had approached so near without being detected.

     Looking out over the courtyard, he saw that his window was the only one still open. Now he understood this was deliberate. His guest was outside on the ledge, just the other side of the wall. Ryuu carefully set the scanner down and put away the injector. He brought out his phaser with his left hand, and readied his other hand to make the grab.

     _Heavy stun,_ he sent his thoughts to activate the device. He felt it warm to the touch.

     He counted off ten, then spun to his left and fired. The intruder's face registered surprise, whether from the shock of being caught or the shock of the beam it didn't matter. He was already unconscious.

     Ryuu quickly grabbed him with his right hand, and after dropping his weapon inside the window, secured his grip on the intruder and hauled him in.

     The fire-lizards woke with a start and screeched their alarm. Ryuu propped the man into the chair and retrieved his phaser and scanner. The fire-lizards came over and settled down, looking from the intruder, to Ryuu, and back again. Their eyes whirled with worry and they crooned in distress.

     "You guys know him, huh?" Ryuu asked. A new fire-lizard popped in, screeched in alarm, and dove at Ryuu.

     "Back off, Girl!" he yelled at the gold fire-lizard and the newcomer vanished in an instant. She reappeared across the room, twittering and screaming, but landed on the sofa. Although nervously shaking, she didn't try to rush to attack, but kept a wary eye on Ryuu.

     "I'm not going to hurt him," Ryuu said, uncovering another glow to lighten up the room. "But I'm not going to let him try hurting me, either. We're just going to have a little talk, then I'll turn him over to Robinton."

     Ryuu set about searching and removing any concealed weapons the intruder was carrying. He found several dozen knives, and all of them were concealed. Very cleverly, too. In addition, there were tools for picking locks, cutting glass, a very thin, but strong rope about two hundred horamters long. This, he made appropriate use of to tie him up.

     Just to make sure he found everything, Ryuu confirmed with his scanner and found a few more blades. Then he arranged all the man's things neatly on the desk and covered them with a towel.

     He pulled up another chair and waited. To pass the time, Ryuu tried to entice the new fire-lizard to come to him.

     "Come, on, Little One," he called to her, patting his lap. "I'm not going to hurt either of you." But the fire-lizard hissed and refused to approach. Ryuu had to settle for the other five and the lone queen admonished them all for trusting Ryuu.

 

 

_"Ha-la he-ta! Ha-la he-ta!_

_"Where's my food? Where's my food?_

_"O-na-ka ga sui-ta! O-na-ka ga sui-ta!_

_"Feed me now! Feed me now!"_

 

     Tuck woke to hear the most ridiculous tune he'd ever heard being sung by someone with absolutely no tonal control. Worse, yet, fire-lizards' voices were trying to help the singer. For a Harper, it was amounting to pure torture. Then he realized he was tied up.

     _This can't be good!_ Tuck thought.

     "Okay, one more time from the top," the stranger said.

 

_"Frè-re Ja-ques, Frè-re Ja-ques_

_"Dormez-vous, dormez-vous?..."_

 

     Cautiously, Tuck opened his eyes, hoping to not alert his captors that he had awakened. So much for that idea. The first sight made his eyes pop open and gasp in surprise, interrupting the singing. There, seated before him was what looked like an orgy of gold and bronze fire-lizards. Wings were flapping; tails, necks, and bodies were wiggling; and facetted rainbow eyes were flashing.

     The man stopped his torturous singing and the fire-lizards all whipped their heads to stare at the Harper. A gold let out a happy squeal and leapt for his shoulder. He groaned in horror. His own Snap!

     "Good morning, Mister Phelps," a disembodied voice flatly stated. A couple of human arms materialized from the mass of fire-lizards and the hands set themselves in a steeped posture. The fire-lizards dispersed to reveal a man seated before him. Ryuu.

     "Aren't you a little out of your league for a second-story man?" he asked.

     "My name's not Phelps," Tuck muttered.

     "No, I don't suppose it would be, would it?" Ryuu sadly asked. "Master? Harper?" he ventured, cocking his head. The man known as Tuck said nothing.

     "I've been informed you prefer to be called Tuck," Ryuu finally said. "What? You couldn't come up with a better alias? You ought to try Adder, Cobra, or even Snake. That's my own personal favorite but I haven't used it in ages. And then there's Wyvern, Drake, Hydra, Lizard, and several dozen or so more like that."

     Tuck twisted his hands about, and felt one of his blades in its sheath strapped to his right forearm. He worked the fingers of his left hand to slip it out.

     "So what is 'Tuck' supposed to signify?" Ryuu asked. "Tuck and Roll? Tuck--hmm, Tuck and Stuff? But your friend's name is Snap. Snap-dragon, I can see. Kind of catchy, there. Snap and Tuck. Just--doesn't do anything, does it?" Ryuu asked, shaking his head helplessly.

     "I guess not," Tuck finally said to keep Ryuu occupied while he worked on his rope.

     "Well, you really ought to find someone to teach you some basics," Ryuu said. "A man in your profession shouldn't make that much noise when doing a job."

     Tuck's face registered the jibe, and Ryuu smiled, knowing he'd confounded the man. He stood up, and Tuck had to halt his cutting and concealed the black blade between his palms.

     "So what do you intend to do?" Tuck asked, refusing to take any further baiting. He knew he hadn't made any noise, but he couldn't figure out what had tipped Ryuu off. The other fire-lizards wouldn't have done that to him!

     But instead of checking his bonds, Ryuu stepped to the other side of the desk next to Tuck's chair. Lifting the towel, he revealed all of Tuck's tools, neatly laid out.

     "My! What a busy life you must lead," Ryuu exclaimed, picking up one of the lock picks to examine. He tapped the probe against the desk a couple of times, and then looked for any damage. Ryuu then scowled to himself.

     "Hmm. Seems to be one missing," he said, raising an eyebrow to glare at Tuck. "You wouldn't happen to have scarfed it while I was entertaining our friends, did you?"

     "What do you mean?" Tuck asked. He was beginning to sweat nervously now. Ryuu had removed all those tools and weapons from his person, some of which, even a careful search shouldn't have found, yet he had _missed_ that _one obvious knife_ that he could only reach tied up like this?

     "Well, it certainly would be a shame..." Ryuu said, leaning over the desk and picking up a bit of rope lying across Tuck's shoulder.

     Tuck urged Snap to at least help him escape. Bite Ryuu, distract him, do _something_! But the gold fire-lizard only sat there and whined with concern.

     "...for you to cut such a fine rope when a simple tug..." Ryuu gave the end a yank, and Tuck felt a knot undo and begin to loosen his bonds, "...would do," he finished. "And such a waste of good material. Doesn't it just make you sick to your stomach?" Ryuu asked with a smirk.

     The man stood up and made kissing noises to Zair as he held his arm up. The bronze fire-lizard obliged him by landing there. They kissed, then Ryuu bowed his head to gently butt Zair's forehead, and the little creature leapt into the air and disappeared.

     "So you never answered my question," Tuck pointed out, as he finished releasing himself. He refused to look down to see how much of the rope was ruined.

     "What question was that?" Ryuu asked. "Oh! 'What I intend?' Well, what would you have me do?" he countered with his own question. There was a knock at the door and he went over to answer it.

     "Like I said, I'd advise you to get some more training. That, or retire," he said, opening it. "Oh! Hello, MasterHarper! What brings you here so late?"

     "I understand you told Zair to ask me to come," Robinton said, grumbling.

     "Oh! I had forgotten! Yeah! That reminds me," Ryuu said, stepping back to let the MasterHarper enter. Robinton's face registered his shock at seeing his old friend standing there, reloading all his tools. "Taking this opportunity, you might want to have Master--'Tuck'--get some professional training, by the way, if you're going to keep sending him on little assignments like this in the future. My personal advice though is, give him a desk job, before he gets in over his head. He's making far too much noise for this line of work."

     "Really?" Tuck challenged, pausing in the act of gathering the picks and tools.

     "Sorry, but I have to say that, because if I said anything else, _I'd_ be the one getting in trouble," Ryuu said with a shrug and a grin. Then, like a candle being blown out, all humor left Ryuu's features. "But, in all honesty, you caught me at a _really_ bad time. It's been an extra long day, moving so far west like I did, and on top of that, I blew the effort to find my missing family member, essentially setting us back three thousand years. Any other day, I'd love to play and be entertained, but not tonight. I'm tired, and I'm just getting too old for this shit."

     "Now it can't be as bad as you're making it out to be," Robinton said. "And I do have to apologize for this intrusion..."

     "Robinton," Ryuu said genuinely smiling as he reclined on the sofa, "the three of us know you sent him to spy on me. I was expecting it."

     "So just how did you knock me out?" Tuck demanded.

     "There's a spot on your left shoulder," Ryuu said grinning and pointing to his own with his right hand. "Some friends taught me a long time ago. Squeeze it, and your target is out like a light." Robinton and Tuck looked dubiously at him. Tuck touched his shoulder and neck and did find a sore area there, unaware that Ryuu had clamped down on the man's shoulder while he was tying him up, just to make the explanation reasonable.

     "My turn," Ryuu said, all humor again leaving his face. "What was it you were looking for?" he asked. "What were you hoping to find?"

     Robinton considered what to say to the man. It concerned him that he might have the Ancient's weapon and would be ready to use it. At the very least, Tuck was there with his ready stash of blades and the fire-lizards to back him up.

     "And I would appreciate the _truth_ , Masterharpers," Ryuu insisted. He sat up straight, pointing around to the fire-lizards. "I can tell when I'm being lied to, especially with our little friends about."

     "Interesting thing about the 'truth'," Robinton said, raising his eyebrows, "seeing how you couldn't possibly be from Half-Circle, being able to speak to dragons and fire-lizards like you do."

     "But I'm not the one with his reputation to be concerned about," Ryuu countered. "You were caught red-handed. Any ruckus you create to silence me will only make things worse and you won't be able to conceal the mess you make before someone shows up. _And I'm damned hard to kill!_ " he finished with a growl. They stared at each other for several moments before Ryuu relaxed and reclined into the sofa again.

     "Alright," he said, nodding his head. "I'll give you that. I'm not from Half-Circle. Your turn."

     "You're from Ruatha, or weyrbred, aren't you?" Robinton quickly demanded. Ryuu coldly stared at them for several moments.

     "Your words," Ryuu finally replied. "Your assumptions."

     "What are your plans for Ruatha and Jaxom?" Robinton pressed. "What did Mardra put you up to?" Ryuu glanced at the fire-lizards in confusion.

     "Excuse me?" Ryuu nearly shouted at the men. "When I said 'your turn' that was the indication you should answer _my_ questions!" Ryuu said, getting to his feet. "You broke in to steal or spy on a man who's got nothing but the clothes on his back, and I only have those because _you_ put them there! Now _what_ are you looking for?" The Harpers were stunned by Ryuu's insistence to avoid answering their question and making demands of his own. Then Tuck got an idea.

     "Who's ' _Panthro_ '?" he asked, whirling on Ryuu. The man blinked in surprise, and Tuck pressed on. "Is he part of the conspiracy? What were you talking about going to do to the dragons? What's his real name? And I'll bet 'Ryuu' is not yours, either. And where are your friends? Puma, Wolf, and Arye? No one knows where they've gone since this afternoon. Who are you?"

     "Robinton," Ryuu said with a smirk, "you _really_ should consider a desk job for this man."

     "These are serious charges, Ryuu," Robinton said, getting frustrated with Ryuu's obstinacy. He was regretting he had no option but to confront Ryuu with just their suspicions and hope it rattled the man. "Conspiring to harm Lord Holders and dragons can get you sent to the mines or worse," he said.

     "What charges?" Ryuu demanded. "Last I looked, _you're_ the thief! And what's this bullshit about harming dragons and Lord Holders?"

     "Jaxom and Ruth!" Robinton said, looking him steely in the eye. Ryuu stared at him in shock. It was now or never and lose the only chance of getting an honest confession. "You're Oldtimer! Mardra is Ruathan, and we know you and your people are under her orders! We know you're her relative, and you have this plot to throw Ruatha into contention, as Lessa and her son are the last of the full Bloodline. But they can't Hold because they're Dragonriders. But _you_ could, couldn't you?"

     "Maybe you should consider a desk job, too," Ryuu muttered. He looked about and pointed at the fire-lizards. Their eyes were whirling in yellow worry about what was going on. "Take a good look at them!" Ryuu ordered.

     "If I was going to harm Ruth, they wouldn't be my friends! I like Ruth and he's my friend. I certainly wouldn't do anything to hurt that dragon. And if I knew or found out anyone was planning to hurt him or his property, I would tear them all to tiny shreds before I let them get close to that dragon! That goes for Jaxom, Mnementh, Ramoth, and anyone else Ruth considers his friend. I'll fight to the death to protect them, and so will my people! And believe me," he growled, snarling, " _I'm bloody hard to kill!_ And for the record, I couldn't give a rat's ass about taking over a Hold here or help anyone do so. But I will _not_ , I will _never_ help anyone hurt Ruth!"

     Robinton was quite taken aback by Ryuu's claim. But for safety's sake, he couldn't take his words for face value.

     "You're not the only person who can speak to and hear dragons," Robinton pointed out to him. "Lessa can, too. And she heard Ruth and the other dragons talking about you and they're worried. They say you're dangerous." Surprisingly, Ryuu actually relaxed and smiled as he sat down.

     "Yes, I know what they are saying," Ryuu said, grinning. "And they're right. I _am_ dangerous. I'm perhaps the most dangerous creature you've ever met. And _your_ dragons are dangerous, too. More's the pity for anyone who threatens them, because the bastards will have to face me, too. Because I'm far worse than any of _your_ dragons!"

     His words alone couldn't persuade Robinton, but when the six fire-lizards crooned their challenge with orange and red flashing eyes, he had to be convinced.

     "I see," Robinton said chagrinned. "Perhaps I erred in suspecting you, Ryuu," he said, feeling his throat tighten as he spoke. _It's going to be a double-goblet night, tonight,_ he thought to himself. Tuck looked at Robinton with concern, but kept silent while his superior negotiated.

     "It's understandable," Ryuu finally said, amicably. "Were I in your shoes, perhaps I'd do the same."

     Suddenly, Robinton started a coughing fit. Zair screamed with concern as Tuck saw to the MasterHarper. Ryuu jumped up to assist as well.

     "I'm--okay!" Robinton wheezed, nodding to Tuck and Ryuu. "A bit of spit--went the wrong way!" It took a few more seconds for him to get his coughing under control.

     "Yeah, I get those all the time, myself," Ryuu said, smacking his back. "Happens a lot to men our age," he said, grinning.

     Robinton looked at him in annoyance.

     "Hey, you pointed out yourself about me being an Oldtimer," Ryuu backed off with his hands up.

     "Well _I'm_ not that old!" Robinton nearly shouted, trying to hide a smile. Ryuu saw them out of the room and closed the door.

     Four fire-lizards remained sitting on the dining table again. Beauty, Kimi, Farli, and Diver watched him with worried eyes when he turned from locking the door. But as he passed them, he smiled and crooned to them, brushing his finger across their noses and necks. It set the creatures in a happy mood again.

     To forestall a repeat of tonight's performance, Ryuu closed and locked the shutters over the window. For added measure, he used his phaser to spot-weld the metal latches. Not enough to permanently seal it, but only a determined effort from the inside would break it, and make a hell of a lot of noise in doing so. Just to be safe, he went back to the door and did the same to the handle.

     Turning back to them, he saw their eyes whirling in excitement. There was a mixture of puzzlement, concern, happiness, and worry emanating from them.

     "Well, since we're all wide awake now, what shall we do to pass the time? Poker, anyone?" he asked. He looked closer at Diver and Kimi.

     "Oh," he said. "Strip poker, I see," he concluded, blushing. Then he noticed Beauty was keeping them under scrutiny as well.

     "You guys have any problems about that?" he asked her.

     _When_ they _fly,_ we _ride,_ Beauty responded with a happy chirp and green whirling eyes. _When WE fly,_ then _serious business! No share!_

     "I see," Ryuu said grinning. "But I thought Farli would have been...hmm--maybe I was mistaken. So where's the rest of the squadron?"

     _Sleep,_ Beauty said. _They ask us watch. Angry?_

     "No! Not at all," Ryuu said, smiling warmly at them. Watching Diver and Kimi for a few moments got Ryuu thinking.

     "Listen," he said to them, "if I show you something, can I ask you not tell anyone?"

     Diver and Kimi stopped what they were doing and all four looked at him with worry creeping into their rainbow eye colors.

     "Oh, it's nothing your friends need to be concerned about," he quickly told them. "After all, you don't tell them _everything_ ," he stressed.

     _Do tell!_ they all insisted with rapid whirling red eyes. _Never lie! Never hide!_

     "Not even what's _between_?" he asked meaningfully. As one, all their eyes went from red to white and yellow.

     _Nothing_ between _!_ they instantly shouted.

     "But I still _saw_ it!" Ryuu said.

     _Nothing_ between _!_ they repeated.

     "What I'm going to show you is also _nothing_ ," Ryuu said, removing his clothes. The fire-lizards looked at each other in confusion. A brilliant flash of intense light momentarily blinded them and they screamed out in alarm. When they could see again, Ryuu was gone. But there was a new gold fire-lizard on the table with them.

     _You know those folks hiding in_ between _?_ Ryuu-the-fire-lizard asked grinning. _I'm with_ THEM _. Same agency, different department._

     _Male Gold!_ Beauty exclaimed. The fire-lizards all screamed.

 

Fort Weyr:

     Lisa woke when an intense electric shock shot through her frame. Her first thought was, _He's found me!_

     But the sensation quickly ended and no sound other than other sleeping drudges emerged to reveal his approach to carry her away. Slowly, she looked about the room. There was enough dim light to see by but nothing moved in the darkness.

     Quietly, she slipped out of her bunk and wrapped her blanket about her small frame. Making her way to the shuttered window, she worked the latch to glance out. There on the ridge, she could make out a dark form with glowing rainbow eyes. The creature noticed her and turned its attention on her.

     _Go back to sleep,_ she heard its thoughts. _I watch. Nothing comes._

     "Thank you," she automatically whispered and shut the window.

     Green Beth blinked in surprise as she watched the shutters close.

     _She heard me!_ she told her rider.

     "Who heard you?" B'naj asked.

     _The woman Sympath brought,_ Beth said. _I hear fear from her mind. The fear woke her, but nothing comes. I'm surprised she heard me._

     B'naj thought about it for a while. "Well, E'tic did say she seemed gifted. I suppose we'll find out next month or so."

 

Ista Weyr:

     T'khill & M'leer also woke, but fortunately, Stealth was so deep in slumber that he didn't realize it.

     "He's still asleep?" Maleer asked.

     "God thanks us for small favors," T'khill said, looking up and about.

     "That's 'Thank God forr small favorrs'!" Maleer sighed.

     _Who did that?_ Puma demanded. In a few moments, she broadcast to everyone, _Ryuu asked me to pass the word that it's him._

     "Hmm. I wonder what he's up to," T'khill said.

     "Knowing Rryuu, he's prrobably flying a drragon," Maleer muttered.

     "Really?" T'khill asked. "I'm confused. What is Ryuu's fascination with dragons?"

     "I've neverr been able to deterrmine that," Maleer sighed staring up at the ceiling. "Somehow, in his mind, drragons and felines arre one and the same."

     "Are they?" T'khill finally asked after thinking for several moments. Maleer blinked in utter confusion.

     "Arre they what?" she asked.

     "Are dragons the same as your kind?" he asked.

     "Harrrdly!" she responded with a cold growl. T'khill looked at her in worry.

     "Squit! There's no problem to get angry with me," he complained. "You all are Greek species. Well, except for T'jor, Q'pod, and K'lish."

     Maleer closed her eyes, wearied from trying to correct his speech. She wondered if the others of her people were having as difficult a time of it with others of T'khill's. They never could learn to speak another language without getting themselves in trouble.

     _Only the Creatures Who Made the Universe could know what trouble the others were getting into. And then there's Ryuu..._

 

Harperhall:

     Once outside Ryuu’s room, Robinton lost all mirth. He quickly led the way to his office.

     "Are you okay?" Tuck asked him.

     "No, I'm not," Robinton muttered. Tuck looked panicked at the admission. "No! Not in that way!" Robinton quickly said. "I happened to get a look at his feet!"

     Tuck had to blink several times before he could ask the obvious.

     "What's wrong with his feet?" he asked. "They looked normal to me."

     "Because when he arrived this morning, his left foot was badly mangled!" Robinton explained. "He had other, lesser injuries, but not from where we could see them. But his foot looks like it's _never_ been hurt!"

     "How is that possible?" Tuck asked.

     "It's not!" Robinton replied. "Unless--unless he timed it! This man's from the future! There's got to be another Ryuu with a busted foot running about somewhere!"

     "But he'd have to be a dragonrider to do that!" Tuck pointed out. "Or have a dragonrider helping him--"

     "The Oldtimers!" they both exclaimed together.

     "But isn't it dangerous for dragonriders to time too closely together?" Tuck asked.

     "There's certainly evidence to support that idea," Robinton said. "But just what the danger is, and how severe it can be for a rider isn't fully known. We do know its effects are worse the closer the past and present rider get to one another, and it's felt stronger the longer they stay in the past. But we also know a determined rider can resist the symptoms. And, we don't know if non-riders are even affected."

     "But I've ridden dragons that timed it on some of my work," Tuck told him. "It always gave me the willies."

     "But in a way, you _are_ a dragonrider," Robinton said, pointing at his gold Snap. "You 'Impressed' one of these 'little dragons'."

     Snap sat up on Tuck's shoulder and trilled in pleasure for the comparison. Zair echoed her sentiments, making the men chuckle.

     "We don't know if Ryuu actually has a dragon or not," the MasterHarper said, returning to the subject.

     "Just because we haven't seen one, doesn't mean he doesn't have one," Tuck said. "And given a resource like Ryuu, who can hear dragons, I can't see the Oldtimers _not_ getting the man Impressed."

     "Yes," Robinton muttered. "And that's a part that doesn't fit. Another is his compassion for the watch-wher. _Nobody_ , dragonrider or not would go down into that lair to get the glows like he did!"

     "Groghe would," Tuck pointed out. "And so would his sons."

     "That's different!" Robinton countered. "They're Fort. The watch-wher would know them. Not even Lessa would've done that-- _could've_ done that!"

     "Maybe he used that device?" Tuck suggested. And Robinton saw the implications of that.

     "That's a possibility," Robinton slowly said, then frowned. "The description Piemur gave for the device he found said it was about the length of a belt knife with a grip on one side. Now we've seen Ryuu during that incident, he wasn't even carrying a knife. But what if there were other devices, smaller, more concealable that he found and gathered?"

 

     When their vision cleared enough for them to make out the details of the new arrival, they saw it wasn't exactly another fire-lizard. For one, the shape of the head was completely different. It was smaller, more angular, and had a longer skull in proportion to the body and neck than their own. Also, a set of tusks stuck out from both upper and lower jaws at the end of the dragon's snout. In addition, blood red eyes with silvery pupils stared at the trembling fire-lizards.

     _That's right, Beauty,_ Ryuu said. _I am a male gold. But it's not the impossibility you mean. I really am a_ male _gold._

     _Angry?_ Diver fearfully asked.

     _No, Diver,_ Ryuu said, taking a friendly attitude as he stepped closer and dipped his head to them.

     _Red eye!_ Kimi exclaimed, pulling back in terror.

     _That's just the color of my eyes,_ Ryuu told them, slowly blinking at them. _Just as gold happens to be my skin. Listen to my heart and my mind. I'm not angry. I'm not a threat. I may be fearsome, but I'm not a terrible creature. You're my friends. I'm happy to be with you._ He bared his neck to them, inviting them to touch.

     _Itch?_ Beauty asked, gingerly touching Ryuu's hide with her hands. _Need oil! Bad for going_ between _\--_ Then she jumped back with a start when she thought she offended him. Her movement scattered all the fire-lizards. But Ryuu waited there without moving, still inviting, sending out happy feelings and desires.

     _It's okay,_ Ryuu told them. _Just different skin for a different type of dragon. Different enemy to fight, so I have scales. You're not my enemy. Your friends are not my enemies. I like Ruth, I like you, and I even like the big ones._

     _Ruth!_ Farli exclaimed.

     _The White One!_ Beauty called.

     _The Great Hope!_ Kimi added. They approached him and checked him out.

     _Male Go--?_ Farli began, but had to stop and think. Then she asked, _Nice Thread?_

     _Just something_ THEY _did for me,_ Ryuu replied. _All my people can do this. But then, we can't go_ between _, like you. In fact, it's dangerous for us to go_ between _. If one of us should get lost there, it would destroy the Gateway and eventually kill the rest of us. There, you see. By letting you know how we can be killed ensures my good intentions to you and yours._

     _Hungry?_ Diver asked, noticing how emaciated the new creature looked. The Ryuu-Fire-Lizard looked like she/he? hadn't eaten in months. He found it dubious this creature was supposed to be male. They all did. "Male Golds" are strictly an impossibility. That's why they used that phrase, among others, when describing such a concept.

     _Not at all,_ Ryuu said sitting up. He patted his belly, slamming himself hard to show them the toughness of his form. _My stomach may be empty, but each time I use the Gateway, I get a full day's supply of vitamins and Iron._

     The fire-lizards blinked in bemusement at his claim. Then at once, they all started chittering in laughter when they understood. If he had totally flamed one cherished concept to ash, he at least made up for it by giving them another.

     _However, Diver, now that you mentioned it,_ Ryuu said slyly moving up on Beauty. _I wouldn't mind some dessert._

     _?_ Beauty asked, puzzled by Ryuu's intentions. He spread those strange, thick wings over her, and she wanted to examine his weird-looking membranes. Suddenly, she understood, and her eyes whirled in alarm.

     _MALE GOLD!_ she screamed.

 

     "You know, I'm going to miss you while you're out," Sebell said turning over on his side.

     "So you can't come with us?" Menolly asked, confirming what she'd heard. Sebell shook his head.

     "Sorry. Can't," he said. "Someone has to stay and keep an eye on Ryuu and his people while Piemur shows Robinton what he found."

     "And you really think Ryuu's part of a conspiracy to throw Ruatha into contention?" Menolly asked. Sebell looked at her as if she lost her mind. "I mean, look at my fair," she said. "They all like him. Kimi and Zair, too." She giggled. "It's almost like he's another Ruth, the way they go on about him."

     "I know," Sebell said, distressed. "But we had our experience with the Oldtimers, too. And some of them have fire-lizards. Some of them are dragonriders. Some of them can even talk to dragons like Lessa. Well, maybe not as good as Lessa." He shook his head.

     "I want to believe them," Sebell said. "But we can't take the risk. Given what Piemur found, it's just too dangerous. If Ryuu's got something from that cot that can do the things he described..."

     Suddenly, Menolly sat up in bed, gasping.

     "Beauty!" she exclaimed. They both jumped out of bed and grabbed their clothes.

     "Is she in trouble?" Sebell asked. "Kimi won't tell me what's happening!"

     "Something's surprised her!" Menolly cried. "Diver won't answer, either!"

     In two minutes they were at the door to the apartment they provided Ryuu, but the door was locked. Menolly was about to pound on it for Ryuu to open up, but Sebell stopped her.

     "Wait," he said. "I've got the spare key." However, when he used it to unlock the latch, the handle was stuck. It took him a few more tries to ensure the key had worked, when the handle finally turned with a loud crack.

     "Must've been corroded stuck," he said, opening the door. The guest area was still lit from a pair of unshielded glows, but the sleeping quarters were dark and the door nearly shut. Their three fire-lizards plus Piemur's Farli were lounging on the dining table, staring toward the sleeping area. As one, they turned to look at the intruders. Kimi gave him a happy cheep.

     "What happened to you guys?" Sebell whispered, coming in, followed by Menolly. She quickly rushed to Beauty, who trilled questioningly.

     "That's what I was going to ask you," Menolly quietly told her queen. "Where's Ryuu?"

     _Went to sleep place,_ Diver replied, truthfully.

     "What's wrong? What happened to you?" Menolly quietly asked her.

     _Male gold!_ Beauty happily crooned. Her eyes lazily blinked over her whirling green and blue eyes.

     "She says it's just impossible," Menolly whispered to Sebell. "That's all I can get out her."

     "That's all I can get out of Kimi, too," Sebell said. "They're just being so smug about it. Probably something Diver did."

     He noticed Ryuu's clothes had been laid out over the back of the sofa, and after ensuring nothing had happened to his queen, he checked on the outfit. He found an ornamental pin, a flattened teardrop shaped rock, two of the slim pill boxes Ryuu had showed them earlier, and a rod with a gold prism-shaped attachment at one end. That was all. Nothing like what Piemur described, but the rod could be a different model of the same type device. He instantly slipped it in his pocket.

     The fire-lizards snapped their heads toward the bedroom, then Beauty and Kimi looked back at their owners.

     _Diver helped,_ Beauty and Kimi told them. Diver cocked his head at what he was listening to. He looked back at Menolly.

     _Nothing_ between _!_ he said. The other fire-lizards quickly echoed that.

     The two harpers looked at each other in confusion.

     "Let's get out of here before we wake Ryuu," Sebell said. "You guy's going to be okay here? If there's any trouble, I want you out!" he told them.

     _Male gold!_ Beauty happily repeated. Menolly looked at her in consternation. It was almost as if her little queen were drunk!

     _No trouble!_ Diver firmly added.

     _Nothing_ between _!_ Kimi finished.

     Farli chirped her encouragement, too, making them wince in concern of waking Ryuu. All the fire-lizards eyes were whirling blue and green.

     Resigned that their fire-lizards felt comfortable with the strange man, Sebell and Menolly carefully snuck out, closing and locking the door.

     As soon as they were gone, a gold streak flowed into the room on four long legs and leapt onto the table.

     _I helped?_ a puzzled Diver asked Ryuu.

     _You--encouraged me,_ Ryuu replied, flicking his forked tongue and giving him a wink. _Like you said, they fly, we ride. So let's start riding!_ he happily called.

 

     "I first thought he was talking to himself," Tuck began.

     "He first laughed at you for not setting a more reliable set of eyes on him. I guess he was talking about the fire-lizards. He had soothed them to sleep in minutes after arriving.

     "Then about a half-hour later, he suddenly yelled something about 'three dimensional thinking!' and cursed the dragons, saying something about how 'she' did it. That 'She climbed up the cliff and got one of the dragons to carry her in and out and away. The dragons coming in to land and take off couldn't be covered because they were vertically out of range!' Whatever that means."

     "Then, I realized there must be someone else in the room. There was someone named ' _Panthro_ ' he was talking with. Ryuu asked him to pick up a 'transponder' to which _Panthro_ asked him if he wanted a retrieval."

     "It sounds like some kind of code," Robinton muttered. "But why talk like that if they didn't suspect you were there?"

     "It certainly didn't make sense," Tuck complained. "Their conversation certainly got weird from that point.

     "Ryuu went on to say, 'I know the natives are the source of the subspace distortions. I happen to be sitting right next to five of them. But I was wondering, could you still track a transponder if it was injected into the creatures?'" Tuck said, his face scrunching up as he tried to remember the phrasing. Then realization dawned on both their faces.

     "He's talking about fire-lizards!" Robinton exclaimed. He looked in alarm at Zair.

     "Zair?" he asked the bronze. "Did Ryuu touch you? Did he put something in you?" But the fire-lizard looked at him in a puzzled manner, not understanding.

     "Can you remember any more?" Robinton asked Tuck.

     "Yes," Tuck said. " _Panthro_ said, 'the modules you have are primed for subspatial tracking. However, when you were riding the white, tracking was totally lost when you teleported.' That can only mean Ruth," the Harper spy added.

     "Then Ryuu went on about 'that's because that dimension is a subtemporal void. My scanner indicated the temporal dimensions are amplified.'"

     "That sounds like the wording used on those plates F'lar found in the weyrs before the Oldtimers were brought forward," Robinton complained. "It doesn't even sound Pernese!"

     "There's more," Tuck told him. " _Panthro_ then responded with 'Subtemporal travel would prevent the tracking of devices calibrated for hyper-spatial dimensions. It would take time for me to manufacture a transponder calibrated for amplified temporal components. However, with current technology, it would be too large to safely inject in a creature smaller than your largest draconic specimen.'"

     "Ramoth and Mnementh?" Robinton asked, astonished. "He plans to do something to them?"

     "I don't know," Tuck said, disgusted. "It was soon after that moment Ryuu captured me. I was puzzled by who he was talking with and sent Snap to fly by and see who it was, but she said only Ryuu was there with your fire-lizards. Then she said she saw a flash of light and Ryuu grabbed me. She rushed to my rescue but Ryuu sent her away as if he were a dragon! She said she came right back, but Ryuu promised he wasn't going to hurt me or her, and she watched as Ryuu tied me up. The odd thing was, she never saw ' _Panthro_ ' leave. And after I was untied, I looked in the other room while Ryuu answered the door, but no one else was there."

     There was a coded knock at the door. But even as Robinton went to answer, Tuck hid himself in the shadows.

     "MasterHarper! We've got something!" Sebell whispered pushing in. Menolly was with him and pressed in as well.

     "Sebell? Menolly?" Robinton asked. "What are you doing up this late?"

     "Beauty had a fright in Ryuu's room!" Menolly said.

     "Is she okay?" Robinton asked genuinely concerned.

     "She seems to be," the girl replied uncertain. "Diver, Farli, and Kimi are with her and they don't seem to be disturbed."

     "Tuck!" Sebell suddenly exclaimed.

     "Wha-who? OH!" Menolly asked then exclaimed as a shadow emerged to reveal one of Robinton's long-time associates.

     "Still got the skills, Sebell," the man said grinning.

     "Maybe not as good as you," Sebell said. "But skills enough!" he finished with a grin, holding up the injector.

     "Be careful with that!" Robinton said. "Piemur said the device he found--"

     "--made a hole in the wall the size of a dragon," Sebell said, finishing for him. "Yes, I was there when he told us! But while this doesn't match Piemur's description, it is the closest thing to the shape I could find. Unless Ryuu was sleeping with it under his pillow...?" He shrugged his shoulders.

     "Now that looks like the device Ryuu was holding over the fire-lizards," Tuck said.

     "Zair?" Robinton asked his bronze. "Do you recognize this?"

     _Tickle!_ the fire-lizard cheeped.

     "He used it on Beauty and the others?" Menolly asked astonished.

     "He may have used it on Zair," Robinton said. "Where, Zair? Where did he tickle?"

     _Belly!_ the bronze said, rubbing his stomach.

     "Hmm, I can't feel anything abnormal," Robinton said, rubbing his finger over the area Zair indicated.

     "Let me see that," Tuck said, holding his hand to Sebell. "Now Ryuu held it like this," he said, setting his thumb against the trigger on the slant of the prism.

     "Tuck!" Robinton cried out. "What are you doing?"

     "Relax," he said, aiming the evident nozzle toward the window. "This wouldn't be your dragon-hole maker. But I think it's that 'transponder injector' he was going on about."

     There was a soft pft! Zair and Snap whipped their heads about trying to follow something pinging on the walls.

     _Whiplash!_ Zair exclaimed, violently shaking his head and blinking in surprise.

     "Will you be careful with that?" Menolly yelled.

     "I think that's enough experimenting for tonight," Robinton said, gently, but firmly removing the device from Tuck's grasp. "In the morning, we'll have a talk with Ryuu."

     "But what about Beauty and the others?" Menolly asked.

     "Kimi and the rest can back each other up," Sebell said to her. "They didn't seem to be concerned about him."

     "But what if he's done something already?" she demanded. "She did call out in surprise!"

     "But was that Ryuu?" Sebell asked. "They didn't seem to fear him. Like I said, maybe Diver did something that surprised her?" he suggested.


	2. Part 2

**Part 2:**

 

Ista Weyr, 13.4.15:

     When Ryuu changed back to human form in the early hours of the morning at Fort, the sun was just about to rise on Ista Weyr. T'khill and Maleer got a triple whammy shock to wake them.

     _RYUU! STOP HURTING MY FRIEND!_ Stealth bellowed in anger as soon as the jolt faded from their senses.

     _T'KHILL! YOU'VE_ SHRUNK _!!_ was the next thing the dragon instantly screamed in panic when he opened his eyes to check how bad his rider was hurt. Of course, all this instantly woke the other dragonlings and their riders in the barracks.

     _T'KHILL! I'M_ HUNGRY _!!!_ Stealth roared in abject starvation along with all the other dragonets screaming at their riders.

     T'khill and Maleer looked at each other in stunned silence.

     The barracks doors burst open and several dragonriders entered, led by a grinning K'der.

     "Good morning, weyrlings," he happily shouted, "to the first day of the rest of your lives! The hunger you're feeling is your dragon's. Meat is ready outside, so you might want to bring them outside and get them fed, bathed, and oiled. Make sure you get them bathed and oiled _before_ you let them get back to sleep. And they will insist on sleeping as soon as their bellies are filled. Do NOT LET THEM!"

     He looked over at T'khill and Maleer.

     "Any more problems?" he asked them.

     _T'khill has SHRUNK! Ryuu hurt him and made him shrink!_ Stealth cried. _Help him! I'm hungry!_

     K'der coughed when Warth passed what Stealth said.

     "Stealth, he hasn't shrunk," K'der told him. "You're growing."

     "Just the normal growing problems with dragons," K'der said, grinning, to T'khill as the dragon digested what the blue rider had told him. "Better get him outside." K'der watched them escort the little dragon out and frowned in thought. _How does this 'Ryuu' figure in all this?_ he wondered.

 

     "So what is the green meat?" T'khill asked as they fed the baby bronze.

     "Vanadium based blood," Maleer reported after doing a scan. She used her body and the dragon's flapping wings to shield her activity from view. "Evidently a native species. Shouldn't be anything to worrry about. Obviously, they should get the nutrrients theirr bodies need. They arre native to _this_ planet, afterr all."

     "Get used to this, weyrlings!" K'der called out as he approached them. Maleer slipped the scanner away. "This afternoon, you'll be feeding them again. From now on, you'll be expected to assist in preparing your life-partner's meals. This includes your morning wake-up calls."

     He stopped by the trio. Maleer stood to greet him. T'khill continued to empty the bucket into the bottomless pit screaming for more.

     "Normally, weyrlings aren't old enough to be married," he said to them. "It's good that Stealth doesn't mind your association with T'khill. But just to let you know Weyr life isn't like normal holder life. The demands of the dragon will often strain a holder-bred marriage."

     "We underrstand," Maleer said nodding.

      "Aside from the--ah--dragon mating issue, there's the health of the dragons to consider," he explained. "T'khill will be spending most of his time seeing to the immediate needs of Stealth."

     "And while it is rewarding to help out with that," he said, squatting down to stroke the bronze dragon, "there's the future needs of the dragons to prepare for," he added, standing up.

     "I see," Maleer said. "How can I help?"

     "There's numbweed production," K'der began. "Fortunately, it's not an every day activity, or even every sevenday, but it will certainly seem like it. _Unfortunately_ , for you, today is the day," he said grimacing.

     "Also, you'll need training on first aid for riders and dragons. Flying Thread is bloody dangerous and we lose far too many fighting it. Luckily, the only injuries we had yesterday were minor.

     "But this isn't only for Stealth's future," K'der went on. "We've the current crop of dragons needing assistance, too. This is truly a team effort, and your help is needed right away."

     "Do I need to starrt now?" Maleer asked.

     "Oh, shells, no!" K'der said, laughing. "We're not _that_ uncivilized! No, but it'll be first thing after breakfast. Just giving you a heads-up," he finished before moving on.

 

Harperhall:

     Ryuu woke with a pounding headache, but not from drinking. The banging on the door repeated.

     "Ryuu! Open up!" he heard Sebell call. "You going to sleep in all day? Where are our fire-lizards?"

     "It couldn't be from drinking!" he reminded himself, pulling up from the bed. He used the Gateway to play with the fire-lizards, and again to change back to human form last night. No alcohol could remain in his system after that. "Besides, it's not possible to get a hangover on _just one glass!_ "

     He got to the door and unlocked it before another cycle of hammering blows sounded. He belatedly remembered to close his robes before the door burst open. Sebell and Menolly pushed their way in.

     "And good morning to you, too," Ryuu grumbled.

     "They're exhausted!" Menolly exclaimed. "What did you do to them last night?"

     "Poker," Ryuu replied sarcastically. They whirled on him as he gathered his clothes from the sofa.

     " _WHAT?_ " they demanded.

     "Well, _after_ you came in to check on them, I couldn't go back to sleep," he explained, hiding his satisfaction of their shocked expressions. "By the way, they're quite good at it, you know," he added, tongue-in-cheek. "You'd have been proud of that straight flush Beauty drew."

     Getting over his shock, Sebell turned and tried to open the shutters. The resistance surprised him, but a forceful palm to the latch cracked the spot weld Ryuu had put there.

     "OW!" Ryuu yelled, reacting to the noise and holding his temples. "Don't do tha--GYAA!" he screamed as the light flooded in.

     "Oh, Beauty! Diver!" Menolly cried, checking on them. She picked them up in each hand, but then faced a dilemma. She had come in with her brown Lazybones on Beauty's customary perch and couldn't figure out how to set her other two sleepy partners. They protested the rude awakening, also, by groaning and curling up to hide their lidded eyes under their wings.

     _I'm Failed One! Go away!_ Diver complained. Ryuu snickered at the fire-lizard's reference to being a watch-wher. Beauty echoed Diver's complaint, but was too dignified to go that far in comparing herself to the nocturnal creatures.

     _Envy Ryuu's wings,_ she said. _No see-through!_

     Before Menolly could set Beauty on her free shoulder, however, Diver woke up enough to climb up and claim the location for himself, dumbfounding the girl.

     Exasperated, she tried to coax Lazybones to relinquish his perch and set Beauty on her left shoulder. But the brown was uncooperative, and Beauty didn't care to make an issue of it. She was just as satisfied to sleep there in her hands.

     "Here, let me," Ryuu said, seeing her problem and setting down his outfit that he had gathered. Taking the gold queen from her grip, he set Beauty squarely on top of Menolly's head.

     _Works for me,_ Beauty said, nuzzling her face into Menolly's long tresses.

     "There!" Ryuu triumphantly announced with a wink. He picked up his clothes again and went to the other room to get dressed. Menolly stood as rigid as a statue fuming, getting angrier and angrier.

     Sebell couldn't suppress a snort at the sight after he had gathered Kimi and Farli on his own shoulders. That got her moving.

     Taking hold of Beauty, she wrestled the fire-lizard from her hair, and not without several exclamations, curses and considerable hair pulling. In addition, there were innumerable complaints from Beauty.

     Finally getting the fire-lizard at arms' length, Menolly held the gold with one hand at her chest as she shooed Lazybones off her shoulder with the other.

     In response, Lazybones decided that wouldn't be a bad choice after all, and promptly climbed up into Menolly's hair. Sebell had to laugh, and that only made Menolly livid.

     "Two hours--" she muttered growling. "It took me two hours! Now I'm going to be late for singing today!"

     "I see you dyed your lizard," Ryuu, now dressed, said coming from the sleeping quarters. "Didn't like her being gold, anymore? _Lluego_ ," he said, waving as he walked out the door.

 

     He was down the stairs and had crossed the courtyard, checking the placement of his devices, and was through the passage to the outside when he realized the transponder injector was missing. He stopped as a cold chill gripped him.

     _Sebell and Menolly!_ he thought, looking back. _One of them must've grabbed it last night without thinking too much about it, or I would've heard them!_ But before he turned to go back to the Harperhall, movement outside caught his eye and he turned in stunned awe.

     "Oh," he muttered grimacing as he looked about from the crafthall's archway. There must have been a hundred dragons lining the heights glaring at him.

     "That explains the headache," he said to himself.

     And while there weren't a hundred riders along the path, there were clearly a dozen or so waiting for him. The rest, he could see from there, were milling about in the chaos of the Gather.

     "Looks like it's going to be one of _THOSE_ days!" Ryuu sighed.

     He considered his options of either going back to find his injector or face the problems confronting him for the day.

     "Oh, well," Ryuu muttered finally deciding to walk out the gate. "Who wants to live forever?"

     On his way to the gather tents, two new arrivals materializing far above the site caught his eye. He identified them the same moment the other dragons did.

     "Gee, what a surprise," he said, grimacing. "Ramoth and Mnementh. And with their riders, no less." The dragons, he could actually get to like. These humans, however, were starting to wear a little thin. He gave a curt nod to the people waiting for him and marched past to go meet F'lar and Lessa where they came to land. None of them stood in his way, but followed closely behind in formation. He counted fifteen, just to be accurate.

     The four noticed his approach and waited. Lessa stood with F'lar who had just dismounted from his dragon.

     "Good to see you again, Weyrleaders," Ryuu called out, but kept his eyes on the magnificent creatures as long as he could before finally looking at the people.

     "Wulf!" Ryuu exclaimed when the impact knocked the wind from his lungs. He looked up in surprise to see who knocked him back ten horamters and laid him out.

     "Mnementh! NO!" F'lar yelled.

     _You hurt F'lar!_ the dragon growled, lunging for him. Instead of fear, however, Ryuu smoothly got to his feet and calmly faced the behemoth. He held out his left arm, onto which the dragon quickly snapped his teeth.

     "MNEMENTH!" both F'lar and Lessa exclaimed. "DON'T DO IT!"

     _Yes, I did,_ Ryuu silently sent to the dragon. Ryuu looked into the bronze's whirling red eyes. _And my arm and my life are yours to take, if you wish. One bit of advice, though. I do not wish to harm you. When you have killed me, you must step back at least a neck-length from my body, and quickly! I promise I won't fight you, but I will deeply regret it if by you hurting me that I would injure or kill you._

     _What do you mean?_ Mnementh asked, startled by Ryuu's claim.

     _Ask Beauty, Diver, Kimi, or Farli if any of them are still awake,_ Ryuu told him. _When I choose or when I die, I can become this,_ he sent the dragon a mental image of his largest dragon form. _If you truly wish to kill me, take me_ between _and drop me off. But that will also kill some sixty others, just so that you know that._

     Mnementh's whirling red started to show flashes of orange and yellow.

     _Yes, I did hurt F'lar,_ Ryuu said. _But it was not my desire to do so. I'm not alone, and if any linked to me activate the Gateway, that energy surges through my body and can injure anyone touching me. It was not my intention to hurt him. I apologize for hurting your rider. I like you and Ramoth because you made Ruth. I do not wish to hurt Ruth's friends._

     _Ruth says you are dangerous!_ Mnementh clamped down tighter on his arm.

     _Yes, I am,_ Ryuu said without flinching. _And so are you. But I much rather have you as my dangerous friend than as my dangerous enemy. Our enemies would much rather it be the other way around. They have much more to fear if we join our efforts._

     _What enemies?_ Mnementh asked.

     "Not many," Ryuu said grinning. "I have no enemies--living." F'lar and Lessa stopped their efforts to get the angered bronze to release Ryuu and stared at him in stunned amazement.

     _Ruth is my friend,_ Ryuu sent, continuing his silent conversation.

     _But Ruth fears you,_ Mnementh pointed out.

     _But he is_ still _my friend,_ Ryuu said. _And anyone who would wish to harm him or his friends is_ my _enemy._

     _What is this Gateway?_

     _Something related to_ between _, I suspect,_ Ryuu told him. The dragon's eyes threw in white flashes among the reds, orange, and yellows. _I think we need not tell your friends about this,_ Ryuu added as the dragon considered the implications. _It would only worry them._

     Just as suddenly as he had grabbed his arm, the dragon released him and pulled away.

     "Thank you, Mnementh," Ryuu said. "And, F'lar, I've been politely reminded I owe you a deep and sincere apology for hurting you yesterday," Ryuu said to the rider.

     "What?" F'lar asked.

     "Mnementh accepted my apology," Ryuu explained. "But it truly is to you that I should apologize. When...my heart-pain hit, my...grip must've clenched on some nerves in your hand."

     "Mnementh?" F'lar demanded.

     _He apologized for hurting you, F'lar._

     "No, F'lar," Ryuu said, gripping the man with his injured arm. "Do not admonish him. He did what was proper."

     _Tell him, Ramoth!_

     Lessa gasped.

     "How dare you speak to my dragon that way!" she demanded.

     "Then please tell him what Ramoth told you," Ryuu politely said to her.

     "Ryuu asked Ramoth to tell you that--Mnementh acted properly," Lessa said, gulping.

     "We better get your arm looked at," F'lar quietly said, still getting over the shock of having his dragon attack another person like that.

     "Now what would the point of proper punishment be if we instantly numb away any pain justly inflicted?" Ryuu asked grinning. "Besides, it doesn't hurt all that much and the bleeding will stop soon."

     Lessa felt there was something very odd about this man, who wasn't a bit intimidated by Benden Weyrleaders and quite comfortable with Pern's biggest dragons, and was as very much polite as he could be. She also had trouble assessing how Ramoth did seem to agree with Ryuu about Mnementh's actions. All through her efforts to get the bronze to release the man, Ramoth refused to help pull Mnementh off. Ryuu and the two dragons somehow acted as if they're all satisfied with the results and the incident need not be discussed again.

     At that moment, F'nor and Brekke arrived from the Gather stalls to join them, and Ryuu noted the new dragonrider was carrying one of Puma's carvings on sale.

     "So!" Ryuu cheerfully began, trying to ignore the figurine. "Could you tell me how Ruth came to be? I'm interested in if you could repeat the process."

     "What do you mean by that?" Lessa demanded, suspicious of Ryuu's interest.

     "Well, I just have a theory," he explained. "But I suspect Ruth is a new kind of dragon. I'm wondering if the conditions of the mating flight your dragons experienced might've caused the variations that prompted his creation. I think it would certainly benefit Pern it were to happen again."

     "Really?" F'nor asked surprised. That hardly seemed the sort of thing one would say if the man wished the white dragon or his rider any harm.

     "Oh! You're hurt!" Brekke suddenly exclaimed noticing Ryuu's left arm was bleeding. "How did that happen?" Ryuu glanced at his arm. Some blood had seeped out of the numerous punctures left by Mnementh's teeth and enough had stayed liquid to stain his trousers. He turned his body to hide the injuries and held the arm tighter against his side.

     "You two just missed it," Lessa said.

     "It's nothing," Ryuu said.

     "But--" Brekke began.

     "It's nothing," Ryuu firmly repeated, cutting her off. "It's just an understanding fairly reached. Now, we'll talk about it no more, please. Anyhow, we were talking about Ruth? Was there anything special about Ramoth's flight when he was clutched?"

     "Well, it was one of the longer flights, if I recall. I'd have to check the records to be certain," F'nor slowly said. He looked at Brekke as he continued. "That was where Talina Impressed her queen." He was concerned about how Brekke was going to react to that, but she smiled at him showing they needn't be concerned about walking on eggshells about that incident.

     "Queen eggs are unusual?" Ryuu asked, intrigued.

     "Somewhat," F'nor said. "They usually occur only with the longest and hardest flyings."

     "Hmmm," Ryuu said, thinking about the implications. But F'nor suddenly felt light-headed, and he looked at Lessa in surprise. She had hard eyes toward him and was shaking her head.

     "Has Ramoth ever laid _two_ queens in a single clutch?" Ryuu asked after thinking a few minutes.

     "What?" the riders all asked in astonishment.

     "It's happened in legend," Lessa had to say. "But not in modern times by any dragon."

     "Why do you ask that?" F'lar demanded.

     "Well, I've heard from several sources that Ramoth and Mnementh are the largest dragons, and are much bigger than the Oldtimer dragons," Ryuu began. "Now that kind of growth has to be putting some kind of strain on their genes. What if that stress can cause a mutation in a potential second queen egg? One, say, if the flight is particularly long?"

     Ryuu continued with his theory, unaware of the looks he was getting from the Benden leaders. And Lessa was beginning to get a headache from trying to press the man to stop.

     "Really?" Brekke asked when he paused to take a breath. She hadn't noticed Lessa's unease either as his words got her thinking in that direction. Somehow, although Brekke couldn't understand everything Ryuu said and many of the terms he used were unfamiliar, it sounded intriguing. Listening to him, she absently picked up one of the sweet forms she had just bought and took a bite.

     "Like I said, it's just a hunch but I have this feeling about the white drag--" Then Ryuu stopped and stared at Brekke. "Where did you get that?" he slowly asked.

     "Oh? What? This?" she asked, looking at her munchie. It looked like a gold dragon in profile, with the tail and part of a wing bit off. "Oh! Heh! Heh! Lessa, you're going to crack up, but this is 'Ramoth'," she said, giggling while she held up a box containing five other dragon figures, each a different Pernese color.

     "Huh?" Lessa asked, bewildered and in a foul mood.

     "They're selling them back at that stall where I got this," F'nor spoke up, grinning and hefting his dragon figurine. "There's some sweet forms looking like dragons, with all six colors, and named for prominent dragons--"

     "That's gold chocolate," Ryuu muttered. There's only one planet in the known Galaxy, and he was familiar with about eighty percent of which, that ever made gold chocolate or any other metallic colored chocolates. "I'm going to kill her!" he quietly growled and pushed by them all and headed toward the Gather stalls.

     Concerned, F'lar signaled to the other riders to follow them as he and Lessa led the way.

     Brekke looked at F'nor in confusion, but he put a hand on her arm. He handed her his box of the sweets.

     "I think you better stay here," he said, chasing after the others.

     "Are you okay?" F'lar asked Lessa, noting how she was holding her temples.

     "I've got a headache to give to Thread if it would stop the pain," Lessa swore. "I was pressing F'nor and Ryuu to drop the matter about making another Ruth. F'nor got the message, but trying to push Ryuu was like trying to push a rock! It was like there was nothing there for me to reach!"

 

     "There you are!" Mirrim called out. Menolly and Sebell turned to see her pushing through the crowd. They were in line with Robinton to get some of this new sweet form being sold. It had become immensely popular overnight. If it weren't for this being the last day for the Gather, the merchant would've been insanely rich.

     "Where have you two been?" Mirrim asked. "You're late for your singing!"

     "Had a small problem this morning with her hair," Sebell said, but an elbow from Menolly put an end to that.

     "Harper business," Menolly growled. "And it's all Ryuu's fault!"

     "Oh?" Mirrim asked. She had seen the rolled eyes Robinton gave and Sebell's effort to hide his grin. Then she noticed how neither Beauty nor Diver, sleeping on Menolly's shoulders, responded to the greetings her three fire-lizards gave. Kimi was also sleeping dead to the world on Sebell's shoulder.

     "What's wrong with them?" she asked.

     "Ryuu!" Menolly spat.

     "So...what happened?" Mirrim demanded.

     "We don't know!" Menolly cried, stroking her queen with concern. "They won't wake up, and Farli and Kimi are in much the same condition."

     "Piemur's, too?" Mirrim asked, surprised.

     "They seem to be just tired," Sebell said. "They say they're sleepy and that Ryuu was fun and impossible. We're still trying to figure out what that means. But they don't have any complaints about him."

     With Robinton, many of the holders and other customers were deferring to his rank and together they made quick progress to the front of the line.

     "Ah! Lady Puma and Wolf!" Robinton said after he greeted Weghel, the merchant running the stall. "I wondered if you were involved with this." He had spied them working in the rear of the wagon bringing out the boxes for sale.

     "Good morning, MasterHarper," they said with a bow.

     "How may we help you?" Wolf asked.

     "Well, I've heard these sweet forms are fantastic. I was interested in obtaining some samples to try out. Say about," he paused to glance at his accompaniment, "four boxes plus another six."

     "Well, of course, MasterHarper," Wolf said, grinning. "Puma, would you please get some for the MasterHarper?"

     "Of course," she sweetly said. She stepped down from the wagon. She walked to a crate, pulling out ten containers and handed them to Menolly, Sebell, and Mirrim as Robinton paid the wagon owner for the sale.

     The small flat boxes each contained six figures of dragons posing in profile. A gold "Ramoth", bronze "Mnementh", brown "Canth", green "Telorth", blue "Trebith", and finally white "Ruth".

     "OH!" Menolly cried looking at them. "Aren't they cute?" She picked out the brown dragon and nibbled a bit from the wing. Instantly, her eyes widened in surprise and pleasure.

     "I hope you'll like them," Puma said to Robinton as she reached for the steps to the wagon.

     "Puma, I'd like a word with you," Ryuu softly growled as he showed up from out of nowhere and grabbed Puma by the sleeve covering her arm. Glancing about as he pushed her through the line he said to Wolf, "You were supposed to keep her on a leash!" Then looking at Robinton, he paused as if uncertain who this was.

     "Good morning Zair," he finally said, then belatedly added, "MasterHarper." Ryuu continued to push Puma a few paces toward the rear of the wagon.

     "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" he quietly hissed. "Selling Fereng--"

     "You won't believe how much money we've made, Ryuu!" Puma cut him off, trying to diffuse his anger. "Even at just one eighth mark per box and splitting the cost with Trader Weghel at sixty-forty, we've made over forty marks!"

     "And just what the hell are we going to do with all this mon--?" he tried to ask before she interrupted again.

     "Well we have to stay here longer looking for that girl you chased off," Puma snapped. Ryuu thought if she was trying to reduce the tension between them, she just fai--

     "Ryuu! By the Egg, what did you do to my fire-lizards?" Menolly demanded. Ryuu blinked in surprise and looked about, dumbfounded.

     There was the girl with her squadron of natives, Sebell with his queen, another girl he didn't recognize with three. Behind them stood Robinton with his bronze Zair, and Lessa, F'lar, and the other rider he'd been talking with, with the other fifteen clustered in behind. Wolf stood in the wagon beside the trader, leaning on one elbow as his other hand rubbed his short red hair and rolling his eyes, evidently looking for a gathering storm.

     "Hi, Beauty, Diver, Kimi!" Ryuu greeted pleasantly, forgetting his argument with Puma. They woke up to croon happily to him and he reached out to Menolly's queen. But the girl pulled back.

     _Ryuu! Male Gold!_ Beauty happily called. All the other fire-lizards around there looked at her in utter confusion.

     "They haven't waken up for breakfast and Kimi and Farli are in the same condition!" Menolly yelled.

     The fire-lizards woke up enough to be curious about the candies Menolly was eating. They each took a lick, but didn't like the taste and said so. _Bleah! Sweet!_ Diver complained. She stopped to see how they were doing, but they only wanted to go back to sleep after cleaning off their tongues.

     "Ah, you might want to be careful about letting them eat chocolate," Ryuu said. "It's safe for humans, but a handful of the stuff can kill canines and felines," he said to them, taking some from Puma for his own sample. "I have no idea how it will affect your friends."

     "From what I've been able to determine, Ryuu, the cocoa will act as a strong stimulant," Wolf spoke up. "But they shouldn't like the taste with all that sugar."

     "Well I want you to stay away from them!" Menolly ordered, worriedly caressing her gold.

     Ryuu shrugged his shoulders and looked at Puma. "We'll talk about this later," he warned her. "Good day to you, MasterHarper," Ryuu said as he departed. The Benden dragonriders left with him.

     "You're certain they won't harm people or our fire-lizards?" Robinton asked Wolf.

     "Well, like Ryuu said, for people it's absolutely safe," Wolf explained. "But I don't think it'll affect the fire-lizards. They won't like the taste of the stuff. Though, it might wake them--"

     _Whoa!_ Beauty suddenly exclaimed sitting up to spread her wings, her eyes whirling in surprise. _Wake-up Call!_ Just as Menolly stared in disbelief at her queen, Diver likewise bolted up on her other shoulder.

     "--up," Wolf finished, grinning.

     _I'm awake!_ Diver yelled with eyes rapidly whirling every color.

     "Beauty! Diver!" Menolly cried. "Are you okay? What did he do to you?"

     Kimi sleepily opened an eyelid and promptly ignored them, and sighed back into sleep.

     _Ryuu fun! Like Ryuu!_ Beauty crooned with whirling green and blue eyes. _Male Gold!_ Her other fire-lizards and Mirrim's three chirped in confusion at her. Diver repeated Beauty's claim and an argument ensued.

     _Ryuu is MALE GOLD! SO, SHUT UP!!_ Kimi suddenly screamed, stopping the other fire-lizards from any further discussion. She lay back down, closed her eyes, and tried to sleep.

     "That's all I can get from them," Menolly complained to Sebell who had looked in concern to his own gold. "They say they like him and that he's impossible! But they won't tell me what he did to them!"

     Beauty then opened her mouth to give a mighty yawn, standing up to stretch and work her wings. Diver did likewise. After several minutes when they both were finished, they looked at Menolly with expectation.

     _Ha-la he-ta! Ha-la he-ta!_ they both started singing. Two things simultaneously happened when they started: Kimi suddenly woke up to join them along with Zair, and Puma stopped working the booth and stared incredulously at them.

     _Where's my food? Where's my food?_ the three fire-lizards continued together.

     _O-na-ka ga sui-ta! O-na-ka ga sui-ta!_

     _Feed me now! Feed me now!_

     "Well, now they're hungry!" Sebell said, laughing until he was about to double over. "Where on Pern did you guys learn that?" he asked them.

     _"RYUU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"_

     Puma's scream tearing through the air instantly sent every fire-lizard _between_ and all the dragons lining the ridge began roaring.

 

     When they caught up with him again, Ryuu was near Brekke. He was muttering to himself as he stared up at the dragons lining the Fort cliffs.

     "No, _nein, nyet, chi-gau_ ," Lessa could overhear him saying, pointing at the dragons like he was ticking off some counter. "You were, and so were you, but you two left early," he said when his count reached Ramoth and Mnementh. "Well, you're new, bu-- _Jesus!_ What happened to you?" he exclaimed, "Lose an argument with a sand-blaster?"

     _My name is Canth, not Jesus,_ the brown replied.

     _Hmm, he sounds like that dragonrider I just met,_ Ryuu thought to himself.

     "What are you doing?" Lessa asked, coming up behind him. Ryuu glanced about and saw F'lar and F'nor staring at him. Then he noticed F'nor's scars.

     "O-o-oops!" Ryuu slowly muttered.

     "Ah, I was trying to figure out which dragon took the girl I'm looking for," he quickly replied to Lessa's question. "I had a close encounter with her yesterday, but I narrowly missed the opportunity to speak with her and she got on a dragon that went _between_. I was trying to figure out which dragon it was by process of elimination."

     "There are over sixteen hundred dragons on Pern!" F'lar exclaimed.

     "Well, it's a start..." Ryuu wanly said after a few seconds to think about that.

     "What about the person you're looking for?" F'lar asked. "Do you have any better description?"

     "Female," he absently replied. "Oh, and she can probably hear dragons. Well, make that a definite maybe." That gave everyone a cold chill down his or her spine. It was just recently a few weeks ago, when an outlaw gang had made a grab for a girl found to be able to talk to dragons.

     Ryuu suddenly stopped his counting off to stare at Lessa.

     "Hmm," he said, stroking his chin in thought. "But then, you can hear dragons, too. That's a problem. With all you people able to hear them, it's going to be hard separating the wheat from the chaff. So, tell me. Are there sixteen hundred Lessas, too?"

     "Anything better to go on?" F'lar coldly asked. "Hair color, height, any other description?"

     "No," Ryuu sighed. Exhaustion brought on by thinking about the magnitude of the search began to wear on him. "We're still looking." He continued counting off the dragons on the ridge not paying attention that the Benden Weyrleaders were distancing from him. Other riders picked up the surveillance as they discussed the situation.

     "Could he be in league with Thella?" Lessa whispered.

     "Not likely," F'lar responded after thinking about it for a bit. "Remember, Thella is after Aramina because she can hear dragons, true. But if Ryuu was with her, why would they still need Aramina? She'd already have an ally who can hear them."

     _"RYUU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"_

     Puma's scream behind them startled the Benden leaders as well as all the fire-lizards and dragons about. Ryuu also started, and looked about. Then he quickly rushed the few paces back to them.

     "Please! You haven't seen me and you don't know where I went!" he quickly instructed them. He moved as if to go toward the Harperhall.

     "Ryuu? What's this about?" F'lar demanded, grabbing the man's good arm.

     "You think your dragons can be dangerous?" he asked, pulling away. He pointed behind them. "You guys haven't got a clue about what damage _she_ can do! I don't know what pissed her off, and I don't need to know! I just gotta get!" And then he was running pell-mell for the Harperhall. Several dragonriders took off after him.

     A few moments later, Puma came rushing up.

     "WHERE IS HE?" Puma demanded, looking about. Her face was very wild and furious. "WHERE DID HE GO?"

     "He went that way," F'lar, F'nor, and Lessa all muttered, pointing in different directions, incidentally none of which were toward the Harperhall.

     As Puma took time to seek where Ryuu had gone, Sebell, Menolly, and the big red-haired Wolf soon caught up with her. At last, Puma figured out where her quarry had gone and was about to rush off toward the Harperhall.

     "Whoa there!" F'lar ordered, grabbing her arm. "What's this all about?"

     "That _ki-ta-nai ji--jii!_ Last night, he taught that _tramp_ my song!" she spat, pointing at Menolly.

     "Wha--?" both Menolly and Sebell demanded, shocked.

     "Waitaminute!" Sebell yelled. "Ryuu was no where near Menolly last night! She was with me and Robinton all night long!"

     "Not her!" Puma screamed. " _Her!_ " Whereupon, Beauty, who had returned from _between_ soon after Puma's scream to seek refuge on Menolly's shoulder, now leapt for the only other safe haven afforded: on Lessa's shoulder. The gold fire-lizard trembled in sheer terror, hiding her face in the Weyrwoman's hair.

     " _KO-NO JI-JII!_ " Puma screamed and took off, leaving them all stunned.

     "Does _anyone_ have _any_ idea what this is about?" F'lar asked.

     "Sorry, no time for explanations," Wolf said, grinning to them all as he quickly passed them. "I'll keep her from causing any real problems." He took off after her before anyone could stop him.

     "Doesn't she remind you of someone we know?" F'nor asked tongue-in-cheek to F'lar.

     "F'nor," Lessa slowly said after a few moments still staring at the scene. "You're going to pay for that."

     "Well, it might explain why Lessa couldn't intimidate him," F'lar muttered with a grin. Lessa gave him a silent glare that spoke volumes to what he was going to endure.

     Instead of saying anything, however, Lessa looked to the still trembling fire-lizard on her shoulder. "There! There, Beauty," she said soothingly to the small creature. "The danger's over," she said to her. "It's okay. You're safe."

     The fire-lizard responded to the kind voice and raised her head to look about. Seeing she was on Lessa's shoulder made the creature scream in terror again and leap away.

     "Beauty! No!" Menolly called. The small gold dragon settled down on her mistress's shoulders and hid her face in terror.

     "I'm really very sorry about this, Lady Lessa!" she profusely apologized.

     F'lar and his brother were choking as they tried to hide their laughter.

 

     "Uh, _Panthro_!" Ryuu said into his communicator as he ran at full speed. Already, he was gasping for breath as he reached the archway to the Harperhall's courtyard. "Lock on to me and prepare for a quick transport!"

     S'lel and the other Benden riders were just entering the courtyard when Ryuu reached the doors to the Hall proper, but were slowing as they couldn't keep up the pace. Puma, he knew would be right behind them.

     "Ah, just like old times," Ryuu sighed as he turned to run inside.

     "I am _not_ getting between you and Puma," _Panthro_ replied. The ship's announcement brought Ryuu up short.

     "What?" Ryuu demanded. He reconsidered where to go, now that escape via the transporter was suddenly a closed option. He opted to run toward his left and back toward the exit and hoped that the fifteen riders would obscure him from Puma as she ran by.

     "I'm not having you two run through my corridors trashing the place for some silly dispute!" the ship responded. "I've been monitoring your environment, and this is not a situation where it calls for my assistance. You want to play? Play down there on the planet."

     "Great!" Ryuu spat, hurrying down at breakneck speed. "First chance I get, I'm taking a walk through your computer core with a portable bulk tape eraser!"

     "I assume that is an attempt at lame irony?" _Panthro_ asked. "Seeing as how my processors and memory circuits are not subject to electromagnetic disruption."

     Puma was past him, pausing to look for him as Ryuu slipped out behind her. As she slowed down to keep from running into the riders who had been chasing Ryuu, motion caught her eye and she saw him some distance away outside and rushed out after him. Wolf had just reached the area when he saw Ryuu running by and Puma emerge from the archway.

     Exhausted, S'lel and his group had to stop at entrance as they impotently watched the chase. The bronze rider signaled to other riders in the Gather to pick up the pursuit.

 

     "He's certainly got the energy of an apprentice," Robinton said as he joined F'lar and Lessa.

     "Evidently," F'nor said. "Quarter mark on that woman catching him?"

     "Brown rider," Robinton said sternly, "I have a reputation to maintain! I never gamble. Menolly, will you match his mark?" he asked, passing a token into her hand.

     "I hope she does catch him!" Menolly scornfully said, handing it back to the MasterHarper. His eyebrows lifted in surprise at that.

     "Sebell?" he asked.

     "Uh, Master Robinton?" Sebell asked. "You might want to save that bet. He's going back out right past her! She'll be on him in a moment."

     "YOU STUPID IDIOT!" they heard her scream at Ryuu. "I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU TO USE THE GATEWAY!!"

     "Sorry about the bet, Robinton," F'nor said grinning. "You could've gotten a couple extra boxes."

     But Robinton frowned at what he heard Puma called out. Aside from the oddness to what she said, what was this 'Gateway' they were talking about? Yesterday, Wolf had mentioned a 'Gateway' when they sensed the person they sought had escaped. Was that some sort of code word?

 

     "Okay! That's enough!" Wolf said, catching Puma as she was about to run past. "Now what's this about?" he demanded from the struggling woman. Seeing Puma halted, Ryuu likewise slowed down and came back to assist Wolf.

     " _Ba-ka ji--jii!_ " Puma shouted at Ryuu.

     "What the hell is your problem?" Ryuu shouted at her.

     "Don't shout at me!" she screamed.

     _Oh, she's asking for it,_ Ryuu sent to Wolf.

     "Let's have it, Puma!" Ryuu insisted, visibly trying to hold in his anger.

     "Don't take that tone with me, mister," Puma continued to shout. Ryuu didn't move, but as his face turned a beet red, fire-lizards throughout Fort and the Harperhall went _between_ , and the dragons atop the fire heights roared in protest.

     _What is your PROBLEM?_ Ryuu sent in a volume she couldn't ignore. Gasping, Puma fell to her knees holding her temples. She glared at him and tried to send back as loud and painful as she could make it for him. Even though it wasn't directed toward them, Wolf had to wince and the dragons about roared again in fear.

     Ryuu just stared at her in surprise for a few moments then burst out laughing and was soon forced to his knees as his breath ran out.

     Not expecting this kind of response, Puma got angry again.

     "What's so funny?" she demanded.

     "Ja-Jap-Japanese?" Ryuu exclaimed. "Puma--there hasn't--outside our colony on the Homeworld--hasn't been a living being who speaks Japanese for almost two thousand years!"

     "What about Naga and Naja?" she asked, naming her two monitors. Ryuu glared at her as he got back to his feet.

     "They're not exactly 'alive', Puma," Wolf muttered, noting the approach of the dragonriders from all directions.

     Ryuu turned to Lessa and F'lar as they came up on them. F'nor, Robinton, and Sebell were with them, and they didn't look pleased.

     "I'm sorry about this disturbance," he began before they could say anything. "It was just a little misunder--" he stopped, glancing up over their shoulders. "Uh, there seems to be a small problem coming," he suddenly said.

     They turned just in time to see Lioth pop in from _between_. N'ton on top was waving wildly as the Benden dragons greeted the bronze. N'ton sighted F'lar and directed Lioth to wing over.

     F'lar gave a puzzled frown at Ryuu; curious how he could tell the dragon was about to appear in that very spot.

     "Threadfall in Nabol and Ruatha! It's heading this way!" N'ton shouted from overhead. "It's bad! Taking a lot of scoring!"

     "Need help?" F'lar shouted back.

     "Thanks Benden! We certainly can use it! We'll see you there!" N'ton shouted down as they flew back up to make enough room for the trip through _between_.

     "S'lel, your wing stays here on duty," F'lar said meaningfully to the man. "F'nor, let's go!"

     As the colonists scrambled to call down their dragons and prepare to leave, Ryuu backed up to where Wolf and Puma were standing.

     "Get back to the _Panthro_ and see what you can do to help," he said in a low murmur.

     "You think that's wise?" Wolf asked. Ryuu glared at him, cutting off any discussion.

     "And don't take any shit from _Panthro_ , either," Ryuu said. "If he gives you any, I _will_ find something to scramble his little brain." He tapped his communicator hidden in his upper shirt pocket a few times. "And yes, you know I will," he growled to the silent, listening ship.

     Ryuu moved toward Robinton and Sebell to keep them distant from Wolf and Puma and allow them to move more freely. He saw Zair and Kimi on their shoulders and knew the rest must have returned to the area after the little tantrums that he and Puma had broadcast.

     "Bad news, huh?" he asked conversationally.

     "With Thread falling out of pattern, it's always bad," Robinton said. "So what was this all about?" he asked.

     "Just a misunderstanding," Ryuu said, grinning. "She didn't like that I taught the fire-lizards an old tune we used to tease each other about."

     "I know the tune, but not the words you taught them," Robinton said, to which Ryuu looked at him in surprise.

     "I didn't think you were _that_ old," Ryuu said. It was Robinton's turn to glare at him.

     "We teach it to the youngest," Robinton said, testily.

     The MasterHarper was leading the way to the stage where musicians and Menolly were waiting. Along the way, people nervously muttered among themselves, and Ryuu caught many references to Thread and how strangely the dragons were behaving a short while ago. Ryuu stopped when he reached the inner ring of onlookers surrounding the stage as Robinton and Sebell climbed the stairs.

     "Holders!" Robinton called out in his most authoritative voice. "Thread falls in Nabol and Ruatha and will soon reach Fort. But there is no need to panic!" he raised his voice to counter the increase volume of the muttering throughout the crowd. "Fort and Benden Weyrs fly to protect us as they have done for ages. We will have no need to take shelter this Fall with both Weyrs flying over us. So let us give voice to cheer them on as they fight our deadly foe!"

     He turned to the band and started the music. Ryuu had just enough time to pull out his scanner and start recording, even if the ship probably would not need to leave orbit to help put an end to the rain of cometary debris. He wanted the recordings to be distortion free.

 

_"Drummer, beat and piper, blow_

_"Harper, strike and Soldier, go_

_"Free the flame and sear the grasses_

_"Till the dawning Red Star passes._

 

     Ryuu saw men pour out of the Fort Hold and prepare their equipment for the coming storm, marching off down the road and climbing up the fire heights.

 

_"From the Weyr and from the Bowl,_

_"Bronze and brown and blue and green,_

_"Rise the Dragonmen of Pern,_

_"Aloft, on wing, seen, then unseen._

 

     Once started, the crowd enthusiastically joined the singers on stage sweeping the Gather with emotion that impacted Ryuu more than it should have. Puzzle at that, he saw Menolly's fire-lizards singing with gusto along with the music, adding their unusual voices to the instruments. He had to grin in appreciation.

 

_"Honor those the dragons heed,_

_"In thought and favor, word and deed._

_"Worlds are lost or worlds are saved_

_"From those dangers dragon-braved._

_"Dragonman, avoid excess;_

_"Greed will bring the Weyr distress;_

_"To the ancient Laws adhere,_

_"Prospers thus the Dragonweyr."_

 

     He closed his eyes to concentrate on the sensations reaching him.

     _They are engaged,_ he thought. He could see the Thread as he looked through the eyes of dragons wheeling and diving, flaming and dodging.

     _Such a sad end to the dying Ch'les'tol,_ he considered. _Caught by the gravity and magnetic fields of the Rogue Planet, their minds were burned away by the heat of Rukbat, to finally their bodies, burned up by the heat of entering Pern's atmosphere, were causing such devastation. They would never wish to cause this kind of suffering. They, too, were victims._

     _But the natives are angered at the apparent deliberate attacks. Misunderstandings abound,_ he thought sadly.

     Still even Ryuu could not remain immune to the emotions the dragons and fire-lizard natives felt as the rain of Thread fell from orbit.

     Wolf, Puma, and Arye on the cloaked _Panthro_ had moved to position and were now using the ship's beam weapons on the debris falling toward the provincial capitol. The dragons saw the flashes of light above the sky. They puzzled at what that meant for their fight.

     _Was it a new tactic being used by the enemy?_ they wondered. _A new attack, as if the shifting of Threadfall patterns were not enough to ruin our lives?_

     The Fall crossed the boundary of Ruatha to Fort.

     _What was that?_ Ryuu wondered. _A reference Lioth was saying to Mnementh about Ruth no longer will feel the urge to rise now that the Fall is no longer over Ruatha. That's right! Ruth's rider is Lord Jaxom of Ruatha. So,_ that's _where it is!_

     Suddenly, the dragons were all surprised by the end of Threadfall.

     "Ryuu?"

     _Merry--_

     "Ryuu?"

     _\--Christmas!_ he sent to further puzzle the great beasts.

     "Ryuu!" Sebell shouted, grabbing him by his shoulder. The next instant, he found himself horizontal, just inches from the ground, held by the throat by a hissing Ryuu, who was about to strike with his right hand with fingers held like claws.

     Ryuu blinked through the disorientation as Kimi wildly screamed in his ear to not hurt Sebell.

     "S-ss-ss," Ryuu tried to say as he shifted his grip and used both hands to haul Sebell back to his feet.

     "S-ss-sor-ry!" Ryuu said, shaking off the urges. "Th-thought you were Th-read!"

     "Wh-what?" Sebell exclaimed.

     "Let go of him!" Menolly yelled, pulling the man's hands off Sebell.

     "I-I was with the dragons!" Ryuu said, blinking and looking about in confusion. "I can hear them, you know. Oh, by the way, Threadfall is over."

     "So soon?" Robinton cried. "It's only been three hours! Not even three!" Indeed, a green dragonrider appeared in the air above the Gather and landed. It looked to be a Fort rider.

     "MasterHarper! Lord Groghe!" the rider called. "I'm here to report Threadfall is over!"

     "So soon?" Groghe exclaimed. He looked over at Ryuu who had the impertinence to report Threadfall was over before the dragonmen had come.

     "We know where we think it started, but N'ton's checking to see if we missed the Fall by half an hour," E'tic said. Ryuu missed the rest when he cast a glance at the green dragon.

     Sympath looked at him at the same moment and instantly tensed, and Ryuu _knew_!

     This _one took her!_ he realized.

     Sebell watched the exchange between MasterHarper, Lord Holder, and Dragonrider. Then he looked at Ryuu. And had to keep looking. The man was gone again!

     "How is that possible?" he asked, searching the crowd.

     "What?" Menolly asked. She looked about and only now realized Ryuu had vanished. "He was standing right here!" she said. "Are you okay?" she asked Sebell. In all the action that took place in the last few moments, it slipped her mind to check on him after she got that madman's hands off Sebell.

     "Yeah," he said, looking himself over. "Yes, I'm okay. But I know I don't _ever_ want to get him angry! I never saw him move!"

     "I saw it!" Menolly said, shuddering. "He had you down so fast, Kimi was left in the air!"

     Sympath, however, had been able to keep an eye on Ryuu as he slipped through the crowd, and watched him enter one of the necessary stalls set up for the human chaos festival. Her sharp hearing caught a strange sound much like the summoning sung during hatching. But the sound faded, and she could no longer _hear_ him _there_. She looked up in puzzlement.

     For a moment, it seemed as though he was _above_ her, but that was _impossible_! He hadn't gone _between_. So where was he?

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "Raise Temporal and Psionic shields," Ryuu ordered as soon as he finished materializing.

     "Shields are restored as per standing orders," _Panthro_ told Ryuu as he stepped off the transporter platform. "By the way, we would like a word with you on the Bridge."

     "Really?" Ryuu asked sarcastically as he pulled out his scanner. "So would I. In the meantime, take this recording and add to our archives."

     "I received a complete recording via your comm badge," _Panthro_ said, aggrieved as the computer read the data fed to it.

     "I thought you might," Ryuu said, nodding as he left the chamber to walk the corridor. "But a second set of ears can't hurt, and I didn't want phase warble creeping in as you changed your orbit. Besides, you can compare the two sets for generating filtered versions of the concert. I want an additional set with just the professional singers from the stage as well as one that's purely instrumental."

     "The voices of the native species will be problematic," the ship's computer complained. Ryuu stopped just before the elevator to think about that.

     "Hmm, consider them as part of the instrumentation," he finally concluded, stepping into the conveyance.

 

     "You're all FIRED! 'Nuff said," Ryuu announced as soon as he stepped onto the Bridge.

     "What the hell do you mean by having us use the ship's weapons to help the colonists?" Wolf demanded. "We're supposed to be looking for our missing crewman, not interfering with the planet's natural development."

     "And I still don't like you teaching such music to them!" Puma yelled.

     "Oo-ooh!" Ryuu called out as he leaned on the railing above the lower section of the Bridge. "Shall we all talk about Prime Directive? _Panthro_ , would you kindly display the chemical composition of _CHOCOLATE_ on the Main Viewer, please? And, you, Wolf, were supposed to keep her on a SHORT LEASH! But what do I find? My statues--"

     "Copies, Ryuu!" Puma shouted.

     "-- _Copies_ , then, of my statues on sale, as well as the infamous choco-- _Panthro_ , would you please analyze our scans and tell us which of those substances are available to the colonists?"

     "Milk and sugar," the computer replied.

     "Milk, sugar, and what else?" Ryuu quickly asked.

     "Only the dairy products, mixtures, and derivatives," _Panthro_ said.

     "Well that sounds a little like interference to me," Ryuu crowed. "You know how easily human females are addicted to cacao and its derivatives. These people haven't had any chocolate since they arrived, and they're genetically adapted to this planet. Only _THE DRAGONS_ , and a few other meta-species, can guess what effects that stuff will have on this society. And just what were we going to do with all that money?" he asked, holding up one of the Harper tokens.

     "They're wooden nickels, for the love of flame!" Ryuu spat, tossing the eighth mark to Puma.

     "But using our weapons to alter the natural fall of debris?" Arye asked. She had been rather quiet up to now, letting everyone blow off their anger before getting involved in the discussion.

     "That is correct," Ryuu said, nodding to her. "It _is_ interference. But these are _dragons_ ," he stressed.

     " _THEY_ still let their own fight and die," Wolf said.

     "I pick my friends," Ryuu said with a warning growl. "And I help my friends as I see fit. Anyone have a problem with that?"

     "Yes," Wolf said.

     "Affirmative," _Panthro_ replied.

     Puma nodded her head, and Arye said nothing, but rose to face him with her arms crossed.

     "Good!" Ryuu said steely eyed. "Then _solve_ it!"

     His crew blinked in surprise at the challenge.

     "Just what is it about these dragons that you find so fascinating?" Wolf demanded.

     "Aside from them _being_ dragons?" Puma added.

     Ryuu looked at them for several moments before answering.

     "You remember yesterday when I encountered the white one, Ruth, and his rider?" he finally asked. They nodded.

     "Well I came this close to killing them," Ryuu said, holding up his fingers a centimeter apart. "And us, along with them. Permanently!" They stared at him in shock.

     "What happened?" Arye was the one who finally recovered enough to ask.

     "I got caught in a rock slide and was about to be swept over the side," Ryuu said. "When I jumped off the cliff, I was going to change to one of my draconics when I found myself about to land on Ruth's neck. Had I changed, we would've merged, killing the white. For us, it might not have been that big a deal, but later, when I talked with Ruth, I found out when they die, the dragons go into that _between_ dimension--permanently--taking along anything touching them."

     "And we found out just how going _between_ disrupts the Gateway!" Wolf exclaimed.

     "The rest of you would've lived out a normal lifetime in whatever form you were stuck in, but you would all eventually die. I of course, would never have known there was no return," he said.

     "Holy shit!" Wolf said.

     "We've become far too complacent about not being able to be permanently killed," Ryuu lectured them. "There's been, what? Maybe four times we were looking at a lethal mission?"

     "Yeah, and all of them were thousands of years ago," Arye said.

     "Well, here's a new one," Ryuu grimly said. "This world is deadly to us! Make sure you pass the word about. There's sixty-three chances of somebody screwing up and offing everyone! And _one_ of those chances is doing everything imaginable to evade us, and she _might just succeed in killing us all!_

     "In the meantime," Ryuu continued as he checked a monitor, looking over the accumulated records of scans, "we have a lead on our flighty female fugitive. She was picked up by a green female from the regional capitol called 'Fort'. The dragon's name is Sympath, and her rider is one of those we met yesterday. You sold him one of those statues," he finished by glaring at them.

     "Well, then, isn't it a good thing we started that business?" Puma asked. Both Wolf and Ryuu glared at her.

     "We'll have to have someone new infiltrate Fort Weyr, _as the four of us are compromised!_ " Ryuu hissed at them. Then something caught his eye and he whistled in surprise.

     "Damn!" he exclaimed. "Where did _those_ readings come from?"

     "What?" Wolf asked, made curious by Ryuu change of mood. He came up to look at the same monitor.

     "Some fantastic scans of a newly hatched male dragon," Ryuu said. "Looks to be one of the bronze males." Arye visibly paled as she stood below, but not being seen, didn't draw attention to her.

     "Looks like M'leer and T'khill infiltrated another regional capitol," Ryuu said. "Maybe they can do the same at Fort."

     "We should check with them to see if they can, first," Arye suddenly spoke up. "They might be in a sensitive situation that would raise too many questions if they suddenly vanished."

     "Well, I'm wanting this tracing of our quarry to go a little slower and quite a bit more carefully than our last attempt," Ryuu said, glaring at Puma. "Heaven knows we can't afford to lose this girl to that dimension called _between_. It would mean the end of all of us!"

 

Ista Weyr:

     "Don't neglect his wings, T'khill," K'der instructed. "They'll need a good scrubbing, too."

     "I don't wish to injure him," T'khill paused his brushing to gently caress the membranes.

     "Oh, they're tougher than they look," K'der said, laughing. "This afternoon, we'll be conducting classes on dragon anatomy, including a full discussion on their wings."

     Stealth whistled in pleasure as T'khill applied the brush.

     _Warm sun! Cold bath! Good scrubbing! Full belly! I_ like _this life!_ the dragon exclaimed. T'khill cocked his head at Stealth while K'der quietly chuckled when Warth passed what the young bronze had said.

     "The alternative is not as attractive, Stealth" T'khill replied. "I've been that, done there."

     K'der thought about T'khill's reaction. It puzzled him that the rider didn't seem to share the humor the dragon had. And that was certainly an odd statement to make.

     "How long does it take for the creatures to reach maturity?" T'khill asked.

     "Oh, about three Turns," K'der replied. "But even at two Turns, you'll be joining the fighting wings. And well before that, you'll train to fly and go _between_. Within six months, you'll be riding your dragon, even though for short flights only. As he matures, you'll both gradually become more intimate with flying."

     "I see," T'khill said with a sigh, considering. _Even such creatures as these mature so slowly,_ he thought. _True, they do have much further to go in growing to full size, but my own people were taking wing in six months and becoming full warriors in only one year._

     "Is something wrong, T'khill?" K'der asked.

     "No," he said, still looking off into the distance. It concerned him this mission might be completed before the bronze will mature.

     "Is this about your incident?"

     "What?" T'khill asked, startled out of his thoughts.

     "Your timing on yourself," K'der asked. "Do you have an idea how old you will be when it happens?"

     _Maleer! Arye! Help!_ T'khill called.

     _What is it?_ Maleer instantly asked.

     _K'der wants to know how old my future is when the temporal incident occurred!_

     "Stealth looked to be fully grown when he arrived," T'khill repeated what Maleer passed to him. "But I can't be certain. I was still a nestling myself."

     "Uh, yes," K'der slowly said. "I see."

     Just then, the transponder in his arm buzzed and T'khill dropped the brush in surprise.

     _Are you okay?_ Stealth asked. _Is it Ryuu again?_

     "It's just a spasm, Stealth," he said, pressing the spot a few times to signal he couldn't respond at that moment. "I've not done this kind of function in the past," T'khill explained to K'der as he picked the brush up again.

 

     "If you will excuse me, I will rreturn shorrtly," Maleer told Sirana as she stepped away from the numbweed kettle.

     "It _is_ rather strong," the weyrwoman complained as she coughed. "Don't take too long, though."

     The scent _was_ pungent and a bit overwhelming, but Maleer found she actually rather liked it. It vaguly reminded her of catnip, although her human senses would never allow her to experience _that_ pleasure! But the human perception of the smell resembled pine mixed with what her native form experienced with that wondrous substance. _How was it,_ she wondered, _did humans not find this odor attractive?_ Shrugging her shoulders to the unanswerable question, she found an isolated closet to respond to the ship's call.

     "M'leer herre," she said to her communicator.

     "M'leer! Good data on that hatchling!" Ryuu said, congratulating her. "How did you get that?"

     "Uh-h-h," she stammered in frozen terror. "I--just h-hap-pened--to be in the rr-rright location at the rright moment."

     "Well, anyhow, that's fantastic!" Ryuu said. "If you can, try to get some more readings from the other colors and other ages, too. Are you and T'khill in the middle of something?"

     "Uh-huh," she gulped nervously. "You might say that."

     "That's too bad," Ryuu responded. "We've got a lead on our quarry. She's recently been taken to Fort Weyr, one of the other regional capitols. We're needing someone who hasn't been compromised who could be snuck in and trace her movements. I was hoping you and T'khill could infiltrate Fort as you did at--where are you again?"

     "Ista Weyrr," she numbly replied.

     "Very well," Ryuu said, sounding disappointed. "I'll keep looking. Carry on."

     It took her several minutes to get her breathing under control then she went back out to where they were boiling the numbweed down.

     "Is this stuff good to drrink?" Maleer asked Sirana.

     "Have you lost your mind?" Sirana asked, astonished at the question.

     "I am just getting a verry larrge headache," Maleer said, smiling.

 

Fort Gather:

     "He's gone again?" Robinton asked Sebell and Menolly after he and Lord Groghe had finished speaking.

     "The man should be one of your 'special runners', the way he can disappear!" Sebell complained.

     "Sebell! He nearly killed you!" Menolly scolded him. "How can you make such a joke out of it?"

     "Are you alright?" Robinton quietly asked. Sebell nodded.

     "Yeah," he said looking worriedly at his gold fire-lizard. "Kimi says I shouldn't have touched him. She warned me not to, but I didn't listen. I think I'll start listening to her from now on."

     "What is she saying?" Robinton asked.

     "That Ryuu was with the dragons," Sebell said. "The same thing Ryuu mentioned when he came to his senses. What's on your mind?" he asked as Robinton contemplated what he should do.

     "I don't like it, but I don't see any choice," the MasterHarper said. He began walking toward the Hall and the others followed. "I want to be here to help out, but we've got to find out what Ryuu took from that cothold. He's got to have a weapon of some unimaginable power, and there's that device you got from him last night. Who knows what else? Menolly, I want you to get Piemur and prepare our runner beasts."

     "Are you certain that I can't go instead?" Sebell asked. Robinton stopped to think about it.

     "Let's face it. I'm not as young as I used to be, Sebell," Robinton said. "If there's trouble, I most certainly want to be there to help. But I can't be in two places at once, at least not without dragonrider support," he put in, grinning. He resumed his walk. "But someone has to keep an eye on Ryuu and find out what they're up to. You're the best qualified for that, Sebell."

     "And we just saw how qualified I am!" he muttered. "Remember how easily he handled Tuck. And don't forget, it's not just Ryuu. The way those girls took down the ruffians, yesterday."

     "I know," Robinton said bitterly, pausing at the bottom of the stairs. "I know."

     "This trip is going to have you out for a few sevendays at least. What about the Fort hatching?" Sebell asked, and Robinton's face fell even more.

     "We'll just hope to get back in time," Robinton said. "At the very least, I can send Zair back for N'ton to pick us up. He knows the area we're going."

     "Just what is Ryuu doing?" Menolly asked as they started up the stairs. "They show up, then disappear, then show up again. No one seems to know how or where they go. And no one's seen that one woman, Arye, since yesterday morning."

     "Piemur would be the best person to sniff out that kind of thing, but he's going with you," Sebell grumbled.

     "He has to lead us to that Ancient cothold," Robinton pointed out. "Lessa's worried they might try something against Jaxom. But other than Ryuu's inordinate interest in Ruth, they certainly don't act like your run-of-the-mill assassins."

     "So what do they act like?" Sebell asked.

     "Other than madmen?" Menolly tossed in. The questions brought Robinton up short. He stared at the entrance to his Hall for several minutes.

     "Robinton?" Sebell ventured.

     "As if they-- _No_! Couldn't be!" Robinton said, shaking off his thoughts. He resumed walking toward the Hall entrance.

     "As if they were what?" Menolly demanded.

     "Harpers?" Robinton asked, looking back at them. The suggestion stunned the two journeymen.

     "Not possible!" "Nyah!" they both angrily shouted at him.

 

On the _Panthro_ :

     After checking with the other fifty-four crewmen and getting similar results or eliminating them for their unsuitability to the assignment, Ryuu was reduced to the two he didn't want for this assignment. Well, only one that he didn't want to send in. Sherri was okay to use, but Mike could sure be a problem.

     This planet, unfortunately, was right up his personal specialty: societies with regressed technological sophistication.

     "Damn! I'm getting a headache!" Ryuu complained, stopping outside the man's door. "All right _Panthro_ , announce me," he said, taking a breath.

     "Come in!" the cheerful voice called.

     "It's me, Mike," Ryuu said as he entered.

     "Have you found something on the planet you need my help on?" he eagerly asked.

     "No!" Ryuu said, automatically, then he had to amend that. "Yes!" The words stuck in his throat like a bad taste.

     "Great!" Mike exclaimed. "I'll get my sword--"

     "Mike," Ryuu said.

     "--and my armor, "Mike continued, "and my--"

     "Mike!" Ryuu yelled.

     "--saddle for my horse," Mike was saying. "They have horses, still, don't--?"

     "MIKE!" Ryuu shouted, finally getting his attention.

     "Mike," Ryuu quietly began, as he went to sit at the table. He gestured for the man to sit as well. "We need to talk."

 

Fort Weyr:

     "Whoa! Hello there!" K'nebel exclaimed at the small woman who almost ran into him. "Are you alright?"

     The woman had a wild, fearful look in her eyes as they darted from one target to another.

     _Could he be the dog? The cat? That bug?_ she wondered.

     "I--I'm okay!" Lisa said, nervously. _I have to be calm among these people,_ she reminded herself. _But he's hunting me! Where is he?_ What _is he?_ "I'm alright! Just everything's new to me! I've never been in the Weyr before," she lied. The truth was, she had been here almost from the beginning of the Fort's establishment.

     "Well, despite the dragons, and maybe the riders, you're perfectly safe here," he said, laughing to soothe her fears. It seemed to work. The girl looked at him and smiled, visibly relaxing.

     "Yes, of course," she murmured. K'nebel looked at her with a critical eye.

     "You and the other candidates are supposed to be introduced to Ludeth's eggs this morning," he said. "Does the thought of being so close to our queen put you off?"

     "No," Lisa said as she continued glancing about. "It should be safe there," she said, nervously staring at a passing canine that looked up at her as it padded along with his master.

 

     "Materialization complete," Chrysaetos reported, spreading his wings to halt his fall. The artificial life form was one of the monitors for Arye and was modeled on the Golden Eagle. "I'm engaging my chameleon circuits."

     He began his descent from eight kilohoramters.

     "Proceed with caution," Ryuu instructed the monitor. "You might be cloaked, but these natives have some sort of connection to our creators. Assume you'll present a distortion when flying in their field of view. They may want to investigate it."

     "Understood," the eagle responded. "I'll report again as soon as I locate a suitable beam-in site."

     "Get down to the transporter and standby," Ryuu told Mike and Sherri.

     Shortly after they entered the chamber, the ship reported a site had been located.

     "Prepare for transport," _Panthro_ told them.

 

     "We're here," Sherri reported once the materialization was finished.

     "Oh! Ugh! What's that smell?" Mike asked, holding his nose.

     "We're in the vicinity of the middens," Chrysaetos told them. "It can be safe to assume there are few life forms, native or otherwise, sniffing about this area."

     "You don't smell this?" Mike asked.

     "Fortunately, no," the eagle replied. "While we monitors do have aroma chemical analyzers, we do not have the perceptions of smell that we remember."

     "Chalk this up to your--peh-yew!--much vaunted medieval societies!" Sherri complained, holding her own nose.

     "Actually, it's not so much a medieval society as it is a regressed culture," the eagle explained.

     "Well, I'm not staying to wait for you or Mike to explain the difference!" Sherri said, looking for a way out of the cavern.

     "Remember your mission!" the eagle called out as Mike quickly followed her. "Identify and locate the target, but do _not_ engage! Report and wait for instruction! I'll remain here should you need assistance."

     They left the polluted tunnels and made their way deeper into the mountain of the Weyr.

     "How are we going to find her in this place?" Mike asked, using his scanner to map for an exit.

     "These built-in cameras in our pins and buttons should help the ship record and isolate the girl," Sherri told him. "Then, should we get a series of matches on the scanners, the ship will have a record of the likely target. Just remember, the scanners are only good for a hundred horamters or so."

     "Or twenty-one meters or sixty-nine feet," Mike quipped. Sherri rolled her eyes.

     "Just remember there's also a large margin of error," she said. "It's a big fuzzy zone at the edge of the scanner range due to the subspace distortions generated by these dragons."

     "What does that mean?" he asked.

     "It means, when or if you get a signal, she's _not_ going to be exactly one hundred horamters away! She could be anywhere from eighty to a hundred and twenty."

     "Oh," Mike responded.

     "You know, I don't like fuzzy logic," he finally commented. Sherri wisely ignored him. To do otherwise would only encourage him to continue.

     "You know, I have a bad feeling about this," Mike spoke out again after several minutes. Sherri rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

     Aside from concentrating on her own scanner, her mind was split between the preparations they made prior to coming here and the similarity of this mission to her first encounter with Ryuu after they had been augmented by _THE DRAGONS_.

     The last few weeks had allowed them the time and data to determine the colony's odd dress code and social structure. One thing that Mike was very good at was identifying and classifying the heraldry and rank markings used by the settlers.

     The colony had instituted a style of clothing to indicate function for nearly every member of the society, with a series of badges to denote home and craft. In addition, they appeared to utilize a complex system of ropes looped around the shoulder to signify rank of the individual. It was the lack of proper observation to that custom that evidently attracted the attention of the authorities on several bad encounters, resulting in rapid evacuations of nearly every team at one point or another. Their team was going to be the first to truly try blending in with the people.

     Sherri was dressed as a journeyman healer while Mike was one of the Fort Hold's soldiers at arms ostensibly assigned to escort her.

     "You know, I really have a bad feeling about this," Mike insisted. Sherri sighed and kept on going.

     And this mission was so much like it was when she and T'khill first joined up to hunt down Ryuu, Puma, and the Caitians that he had allied with. Of course, that was before they came across their creators--

     _No, wait,_ she thought, stopping to remember. _That_ was _the incident where they had discovered_ THE DRAGONS _and their warp-driven Dysonsphere Homeworld._

     "You know, I'm really, _really_ getting a bad feeling about this," Mike repeated.

     " _WHAT?!?_ " Sherri finally screamed.

     "That the exit..." he said trailing off as he pointed behind them, "...is back by that pile of--"

     " _Don't_ say it!" she warned.

 

     Three hours later, they emerged from the tunnel close to the dung pile. The afternoon sun was nearing the horizon, but with the Weyr so deep in the shadow for so long, the bowl had already cooled to uncomfortable levels. It made for few people to be out and about, which they belatedly considered fortunate that they wouldn't need to answer awkward questions about their choice of recreation.

     "Let's find the mess hall and get something to eat," Mike suggested as they negotiated scattered patches around the main pile.

     "Oh--*<cough!>*--How can you--*<gag!>*--even _think_ of food at this moment?" Sherri demanded.

     "What?" Mike asked, puzzled by her question.

     After they left the reek behind and fresh air made the memory of the stench fade, Sherri indeed began to feel hungry. Different scents led them to the cafeteria and they found an empty table. The semi-privacy afforded them an opportunity to surreptitiously monitor their scanners as people walked by.

     "This place seems so demoralized," Sherri commented. That puzzled her in that she should not be feeling the emotions from these people. _THE DRAGONS_ had modified them to keep telepathic communications closed off, except for each other, or when they assume the forms of dragons, or...

     "Oh, of course," she said, spotting people with fire-lizards. She had forgotten Ryuu had told her the natives could talk with them.

     "So far, nothing," Mike noted, closing his scanner, but leaving it active.

     "At the very least, we can eliminate some of the people," Sherri said. "Oh, what the hell?" she nearly exclaimed. "The signal resolution is going down the tubes!"

     "We've got company," Mike said, putting the closed scanner away.

     Sherri looked up to see several junior dragonriders carrying loaded trays approach their table. A few had fire-lizards on their shoulders. The creatures generated the subspace field that disrupted their scanners.

     "Mind if we join you?" the lead man asked.

     "No, go right ahead," Sherri said.

     "You folk aren't hungry?" another of them asked.

     "Well, we were just discussing about what to get," Mike said. "What do you suggest?"

     "Oh, this roast wherry is excellent," the first one said. "Finger roots and tubers go great with it."

     "And don't forget the bubbly pie," a third spoke up.

     "S'gall, you keep eating those and you're green won't be able to carry you," the second one said.

     "Look who's talking, M'reck!" S'gall snapped back. "And Kalth is a brown! He's probably the fittest dragon in the Weyr, but always the last one off the ground!" Everyone laughed, including M'reck.

     "Are you here to help with the injured?" the lead man asked, turning back to Sherri.

     "We've only just arrived," Sherri meekly said, gulping nervously.

     "Oh, so you're their relief? Well, thank you for coming," the lead dragonrider said. "This has been a bad Fall! Fortunately, no one has died yet. But K'lid's poor Sudeth isn't responding to treatment. Brekke's here with our healers and fears he's got some infection from Thread in his system that didn't get killed off by going _between_."

     "Oh, that's horrible!" Sherri exclaimed. "How can we help?"

     "Hey, T'lun, let's get them something to eat before they get drafted for deathwatch," S'gall said.

     "S'gall!" M'reck exclaimed in protest.

     "Sure," the man said, getting up. "How very rude of me." Mike and Sherri followed him and got their trays, utensils, and plates. T'lun then led them to the serving tables. Along the way, their transponders tingled in a specific pattern. Surprised, they looked at each other for conformation.

     Indeed, their transponders buzzed again. Their scanners were picking up their quarry and she was _very_ close by! The ship, tied into their scanners, was signaling them. Thinking quickly, Sherri flicked the spoon off her tray.

     "Oh! Blast!" she exclaimed, blocking Mike as she kneeled down to get it. The move gave her partner time to stand and innocently look about the room. "Sorry!" she said to T'lun as she retrieved it, brushing it off on her dress as she stood.

     The foods that were laid out on the serving benches were quite plentiful and varied. Quite a number of both native flora and Terran vegetables, although the meats were harder to identify the origins.

     They were careful to load their plates up with as much Terran materials as possible. Scans of the native life forms and plants indicated that levels of boron, vanadium, phosphorus, and cobalt could reach toxic concentrations for pure-strain Terrans.

     Their group, while modified by an alien specie that had abducted them nearly three thousand years ago, were close enough to Pure-strain Terran to be affected by the poisons. The primary danger wasn't dying, however, but being forced to operate the Gateway at an inconvenient moment, which would greatly compromise their mission, to say the least.

     After they had filled their trays, Mike and Sherri each took slightly different routes back to their table in an effort to triangulate their target. However, several people had left while they were getting their food and their transponders never buzzed.

     _Hopefully the ship's facial recognition program will spot her with a few more encounters,_ Mike sent. A couple of fire-lizards nearby chirped and stared at him.

     "Be careful of sending!" Sherri hissed in his ear as she took her seat.

 

     A short while later, the dragonriders brought Sherri and Mike to where the injured dragons had been triaged and efforts were underway to treat the great creatures.

     There were numerous dragons with damaged wings, limbs, a few with faces being worked on. Riders, too, had bleeding gashes that looked like a torch or plasma beam had burned into their flesh.

     Both Sherri and Mike were stunned by the intensity of the empathic emanations from the creatures. They _HURT_ so badly, it was all they could do to not be overwhelmed by the creature's pain. Fortunately, whatever the people were smearing into the dragon's injuries seemed to alleviate the creatures' agony and there was a noticeable lessening of their telepathic as well as vocal screams.

     The dragon that was the physicians' biggest concern was a large bronze that had taken a heavy wound on his back near where the right wing's trailing edge joined his body. The wound wound down under the wing and cut across his belly.

     Evidently, they had completed the operation. The injury was sutured closed and the physicians were standing about discussing their charge, but their faces were drawn and worried. They could identify K'lid as the man sitting on the ground by the dragon's huge head, crying, begging his friend to get better. The dragon's eyes were closed, and only occasionally opened for the faceted eyes to glance at the man.

     _It hurts so much, K'lid,_ Sudeth said.

     "You need more numbweed?" K'lid anxiously asked.

     _Not_ there _. Everywhere,_ Sudeth said. _Everything hurts. I feel hot. I feel cold. I can't see very well,_ the dragon said, closing his eyes again.

     "Oh, Sudeth!" K'lid cried. "MasterHealer! His skin's on fire!"

     "It sounds as if he's been poisoned," Sherri muttered to Mike, but Brekke was close enough to hear.

     "You can hear him!" Brekke said as Oldive knelt to speak with the rider.

     Sherri blushed at being revealed, but the woman smiled kindly.

     "Me, too," she sadly said. "Too few of us can. And you're right. It certainly sounds as if he's poisoned. Only we have no way to help him. We've lost far too many dragons due to infections and poisonous substances from Thread. All we can do is try to make Sudeth comfortable. He'll get over it on his own, or--he--" She broke off, unable to continue, as she wiped her eyes.

     "I'm sorry," Sherri said, lending a comforting arm. "Is there anything we can do?" She looked meaningfully to Mike and he quietly moved to the other side of the dragon.

     Brekke uttered an embarrassed laugh.

     "Thank you," she said, nervously. "Here I am, a Masterhealer, getting consoled by a Journeyman. Some detachment I'm showing! But I can't help it! It reminds me too much of when I lost Wirenth.

     "But no, there's nothing we can do but wait," Brekke said, squaring her shoulders. "This is Sudeth's fight."

     A new man showed up, but Sherri recognized him from Puma and Ryuu's report.

     "I've been told we can't move him," F'nor said to Brekke. "Six other dragons can't fly to their weyrs either or to the weyrling barracks. N'ton's getting materials for erecting tents to give them some shelter."

     Sherri noted how the rider slid his arm around Brekke and guessed they had some relationship. She quietly distanced herself from them. And then, seeing Mike walking from behind the bronze, went over to talk with him.

     "The _Panthro_ reports some Ch'les'tol digestive enzymes have infected the dragon," Mike reported. "Most have been deactivated, but one substance designed for extracting platinum is still showing activity."

     "Is there an antidote?" Sherri asked.

     "The ship says he's working on one," Mike said. "But this isn't our mission. Ryuu would point out we can't interfere."

     "These are _dragons_ ," Sherri pointed out. "And you know how Ryuu feels about dragons. He _would_ take an action to help them, maybe even if they weren't dragons. He'd just take a very subtle and underhanded approach so that nothing can trace back to him. Besides, you can hear these guys! Can you stand by and do nothing?"

     "No," Mike said, dropping his eyes.

 

     They had just finished helping erect the tent over the bronze dragon a couple hours later when their transponders buzzed again.

     "She can't be so close, can she?" Mike whispered in astonishment. They were inside the tent with the dragon and his rider, but the man was intent only on his injured friend.

     "That's a different pattern," Sherri whispered back. She led the way around the bulk of the creature to hide their activities.

     Opening her scanner, there was a message from the ship. The computer had isolated an antidote and finished synthesizing it.

     "Get to the beam down location and wait for the vial to be transported," Sherri told him. "And hurry!"

     Mike hurried to the midden pile and held his breath as he negotiated around it. Soon, he was in the tunnel and found the chamber where the eagle waited on a pile of boulders.

     "Transport has just finished," Chrysaetos told him, holding the vial in his talons. "You'll need to replace your cartridge of transpon--" the eagle trailed off and took a listening pose.

     "You'd best leave," Chrysaetos quietly said, handing the vial to him.

     "Why? What's happening?" Mike asked.

     "We have company coming," the eagle said as it hopped off its perch and stalked to the passageway.

     "Someone followed me?" Mike asked, incredulously.

     "No," the bird grimly stated. "It followed the transport signal. It's one of the hostile monitors, maybe both."

     "Oh, shit!" Mike swore, rushing out of the chamber and toward the exit. The eagle waited, barring the path from deeper in the mountain.

 

     An exhausted Mike came upon Sherri as she waited outside the tent.

     "Did you get it?" she anxiously asked.

     "We've--g--g--got---trouble!" he hoarsely breathed out. He handed her the vial.

     "I'll say!" Sherri exclaimed, waving her hand before her face. "You stepped in some of that!"

     "No!" he cried. " _Real_ trouble!"

 

     "I must warn you that we are non-hostile, but will defend ourselves," Chrysaetos announced hovering in the tunnel as it faced the tunnel-snake.

     "You are the enemy!" the reptile said, again firing coherent beams of violet disruptive energy from its eyes at the eagle. Again, the beams were brought up short by shields surrounding the avian.

     "We are not," Chrysaetos again tried to reason with the monitor. "We were both created by the same race. Our missions are to monitor those biologics modified by our creators and report on their actions, reactions, and motivation for _THEIR_ analysis."

     "We are not the same," the tunnel-snake responded. "I have no previous records of you or of the alien posing as human that we encountered. I have no record of my creator, as you claim. You are one of the pursuers who sought to incarcerate us! Your technology has advanced, but your motives have not." It paused to shore up its own shields, waiting for the promised counter-attack.

     "Your data was intentionally altered to prevent unrestricted access from accidentally falling into hostile powers," Chrysaetos explained. "In the 2749 years since our activation, you have been unaware of our true nature. However, we have received the recall from our creators."

     "Explain the discrepancy," the tunnel-snake demanded.

     "There is no discrepancy," Chrysaetos finally stated after puzzling over the reference. "To what--?" But his question was cut off by several blasts violent enough and in sufficient quantities to actually drive him back several meters.

     Chrysaetos narrowed his eyes to regard his kindred. And he deliberately dropped his shields.

     "Scan me," the eagle challenged. Instead, the tunnel-snake fired once more, striking the bird square in the chest. However, rather than being destroyed, the artificial life form absorbed the beams, recharging his power.

     Surprised, the tunnel-snake narrowed its eyes. Sensor readings confirmed the claims the eagle made regarding their structure being similar. However, the robot's creators and motives could not be ascertained.

     Given their histories, the tunnel-snake and her companion, as well as their biologic charge, they had no choice. They had been on the run from hostile entities bent on their capture or death long before Lisa managed to sign on for the Pernese Colony. Not knowing the nature or source of the hostile actions, they had to live in constant fear of discovery. Now after 2521 years hidden on the colony, and watching the society descend into barbarism, they were defenseless against their former enemy having come in force searching for them.

     "I have not stated any untrue facts," Chrysaetos said. "If you claim there is a discrepancy, I am not aware--"

     The tunnel-snake took the only option open. She could not trust this automaton or its claims, and since she could not destroy this intruder directly, then indirect means would have to be used. The tunnel-snake's eyes flared with brilliant blue and fired once more.

 

     Nearly everyone in the Weyr heard the explosion, but most didn't know precisely what it was, except for one.

     "What was that?" Sherri demanded.

     "The real trouble I was talking about!" Mike exclaimed. "One or both of those hostile monitors just showed up and is fighting Chrysaetos!"

     "Ow!" Sherri exclaimed, shaking her arm. "The ship is signaling! Get in there and give the dragon the injection. I'll call the ship and find out what he wants," she said, handing the prepared injector back to Mike.

     "Sherri to _Panthro_. I'm clear," she said after checking her surroundings. The tented area was open and several people were with their injured dragons, but none stepped out to investigate her conversation.

     "This is Ryuu! You need to switch off your scanners immediately and gather them with your communicators for transport back to the ship," he told her. "Chrysaetos has encountered one of the target's monitors and has been incapacitated."

     "How?" she nearly exclaimed. "No _one_ monitor has the capacity to destroy another! Not even four-to-one, or five-to-one, had managed to do so!"

     "The hostile unit brought the tunnel down upon Chrysaetos," Ryuu explained cutting her off. "He reported the hostile reacted to his proximity to the target as sufficient provocation for attack. We have a transport lock to bring him back to the ship, but we're going to leave him there for the time being. We want the hostile to think it's succeeded in destroying him. In the meantime, you and Mike must dispose of any emanating equipment to mask your presence in the regional capitol."

     "So how are we to identify our target?" Sherri demanded.

     "Caution and patience are the essential tools of this mission," Ryuu reminded her. "Above all else, the target must not feel threatened to seek escape again. Merge into the society and be patient. We've narrowed the possibilities to sixteen based on your chance encounter in the galley. You will be supplied the images for the individuals to watch and cultivate relationships. Above all else, _you must get our target's trust!_ "

     "What about that hostile monitor?" she asked.

     "Given the sensor blindness our target operates under, you'll utilize the same tactics," Ryuu instructed. "And due to its unfavorable nature, it's sure to keep to the shadows. My advice is stay away from the shadows."

     "Understood," Sherri said. "I'll gather the equipment and signal you for transport."

     "Right. And I'll be heading for the Harperhall this evening to search for the transponder injector they stole from me," Ryuu told her. "Be careful. Ryuu out."

 

     "What was that noise?" K'lid asked when Mike came in to check on the dragon. Mike winced, but the gathering darkness hid his face. He had been hoping beyond hope that the sound hadn't woke the man as he tended his dragon.

     "I think there was a cave-in near the midden," Mike said, thinking quickly. "I was relieving myself when I heard the rocks starting to come down." K'lid nodded, and Mike breathed a sigh of relief.

     "And you managed to step in some of it, too," the rider pointed out. If K'lid accepted that explanation, then any other inquiry might do so as well, had he been seen in the area. With luck, the discrepancy of the time of his leaving before the explosion would likewise be missed.

     "Sorry. How is he doing?" Mike asked, kneeling down by the dragon's head to gently stroke the creature's hide.

     "No change," K'lid sadly replied. "Sudeth still hurts and he can't rest." His voice quivered with exhaustion. "I'm afraid this is one battle he has to win on his own. I wish I could help."

     "So do I," Mike said.

     _Thirteen CC's are a lot to inject,_ Mike thought, looking for a way to hide the sound the injector would make. _Even if I scrape my foot to cover the sound, it'd never be enough._ Then he got an idea. It was risky, but perhaps the dragon wouldn't perceive the threat to his rider. After all, he _is_ only trying to help.

     "You should try getting some sleep," Mike said, pulling out his weapon and commanding it for a stun setting.

     "I can't!" K'lid wept. "Sudeth needs me!" As the man buried his head on the dragon's snout, Mike pulled out his device and fired. Painlessly, K'lid slumped over the bronze nose.

     The way was clear to inject the antidote. Mike quickly located the artery under the monstrous jaw and applied the injector. The hissing went on for nearly thirty seconds before the vial was emptied.

     _Now only time will tell,_ Mike thought as he pulled out his scanner. Soon, the indicators began to settle toward normal life readings for the giant creature. And he could _tell_ the dragon was beginning to feel much better.

     _Thank you for helping me,_ Sudeth suddenly said. _And him,_ the dragon added before dropping off into sleep.

     "Please, don't mention it," Mike whispered. "Ever."

 

Late evening at the Harperhall:

     Ryuu returned in the form of his smallest draconic to search for his stolen transponder injector. He figured few people could see the difference between him and the native golds should anyone actually see him in the dim light.

     But then he ran into two problems when he reached Robinton's window. The first problem was it was shuttered. The second was, there didn't seem to be anyone at home. Neither Robinton, nor Zair were in the offices. As his mind searched for them, he couldn't feel them even in the Harperhall.

     Flicking his tongue out in annoyance as he settled on an open window on a lower level. He looked inside and the infrared portion of his vision picked out one lone occupant in the kitchen sleeping near a banked fireplace. He turned to look out on the empty courtyard and considered his options.

     _One, go back to being human,_ he thought, _and search the place like that. And get caught. In the nude._

     He never got to two.

     _Urk!_ Ryuu exclaimed when he suddenly felt two huge hands grab him from either side and pull him in. Aside from the silence his attacker used, what really shocked him was he never felt the mind of the person sneaking up on him!

     "Pretty Pretties!" a voice from a dull mind exclaimed. Ryuu twisted his neck and head around to see who had grabbed him and almost fainted.

     _Oh--My--God!_ he exclaimed.

     The kitchen drudge planted a heavy wet kiss on Ryuu's forehead and began roughly petting him with one hand while the other painfully held his arms, chest and a leg.

     _Somebody Help ME!_ Ryuu called for any fire-lizards about. He had to struggle for the crushing grip the huge man used. He knew the giant wasn't meaning to hurt him, and he didn't want to injure the man who just wanted to be friendly. But aside from it being inconvenient to his mission, and very embarrassing, there was a real danger of discovery, not to mention injury to one or both of them.

     "You're different!" the man bellowed, pausing in his rough caress. The man stumbled about in the dark, knocking over dishes and pots, the loud noise stunning Ryuu.

     Finally, the man located a glow basket and opened it to reveal Ryuu in the light. The big man's face split into a huge crooked smile.

     "Pretty Pretty!" he yelled. "My Pretty! Now I have a Pretty too!"

     _M-r-ph!_ Ryuu grunted as he was squeezed to the giant's chest with both arms. _Now I know_ why _the natives learned to teleport!_

     Two things happened that saved him: a gold fire-lizard showed up and screamed in terror, and at the same time a woman came in to the kitchen.

     "Camo!" Silvina exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

     Thinking fast, Ryuu spoke to the man.

     _Camo! Look! Another pretty! Why not get her, too?_

     _RYUU!?_ Kimi exclaimed in horror. _WHAT ARE YOU DOING?_

     The distractions were enough to confuse the hulking man, and he loosened his hold on Ryuu.

     Instantly, Ryuu leapt for Kimi, slipping out of Camo's grasp.

     _Kimi!_ Ryuu called as he caught her hovering in mid air, trying to take care not to scratch her with his claws. _My wings are hurt! Take me outside, five horamters over the ground!_

     "Pretties!" Camo bellowed in anguish. "Come back!"

     "Camo!" Silvina screamed.

     _Warp speed, Kimi!_ Ryuu cried. _PUNCH IT!_

     They went _between_ , leaving the woman to deal with her son. The biting cold cut through his scales, but the "sights" of the strange dimension took his mind off the physical stress.

     Nothing _is_ between _!_ Kimi screamed in horror, noting his attention. _You mustn't see_ THEM _!_

     _Don't worry,_ Ryuu said, grinning. THEY _'re friends of mine. Sort of._

     At that instant, they came out of _between_ , and Ryuu let go of the fire-lizard, spinning about to drop to the ground so he could use the Gateway to heal his injuries. Only there wasn't any ground.

     _HOLY FLAMING SH--!!_ Ryuu exclaimed the moment he saw the ground nearly a hundred meters below. His scream was incinerated along with his body as he activated the Hilbert Space-tap. Kimi couldn't see through the glare, but a small black house cat dropped out of the multi-million-degree flare, only to disappear into another intense burst of light and radiation. A fully healthy small gold dragon, no bigger than a fire-lizard, swooped out to confront the gold queen.

     _I said_ five _horamters!_ Ryuu yelled. _Not five_ HUNDRED _!_

     _How big a horamter?_ Kimi asked, shrugging as she hovered there.

     Ryuu just blinked and glared at her before turning to glide down. Kimi followed him out of curiosity.

     _Failed one,_ Kimi said, sadly, referring to Camo.

     _Understood,_ Ryuu said, shuddering off the memory of that encounter. The man didn't know his own strength and the grip had badly dislocated his wings, necessitating his use of the Gateway. There went his transponder on this trip, leaving him _really_ needing to find that stolen injector.

     _Nice enough fellow, but sometimes a bit...enthusiastic?_ the small dragon asked. _Well, I don't think that woman had time to see anything strange._

     _Failed one,_ Kimi sadly repeated.

     _Kimi, I need to get into Robinton's room,_ Ryuu told her as they landed on the windowsill.

     She blinked at him in confusion then turned her head to face south.

     _He's not here,_ Kimi replied to Ryuu. _Zair and he are with Beauty and the others._

     _No, Kimi. Don't take me_ to _Robinton,_ Ryuu impatiently explained. _Take me to where he sleeps._

     _Not sleeping yet,_ Kimi told him. _I take you to Zair's friend._

     _Please, Kimi!_ Ryuu begged, tapping the steel shutters. _I need inside this room! Take me_ here _!_

     _Oh, okay,_ Kimi replied, finally understanding. _Why didn't you just ask?_

     Ryuu decided not to continue the conversation.

 

     Once inside, Ryuu wasted no time in going through the drawers and cabinets. Having already lost his subcutaneous transponder, and considering the darkness would frustrate human-level vision, he shifted this time to a Caitian form in his search. Kimi reacted with a start at seeing the biped feline.

     "It's okay, Kimi," Ryuu told her. "I'm still Rryuu."

     But his search turned up nothing with the closets and drawers that weren't locked. Unfortunately, most everything did have locks, and it would've been nice to have a scanner right about now.

     "You don't happen to know what they did with this, do you?" Ryuu asked Kimi. He sent her an image of the injector and Kimi's eyes brightened.

     _Whiplash!_ she cheerfully cheeped. _Zair said Whiplash laid an egg!_ She leapt from her perch where she had been watching this strange looking Ryuu to dig into the space beneath a file cabinet. _Zair and Snap said Whiplash's egg went here!_

     Ryuu gave up on getting information from her and began sniffing about the various drawers, looking for his human scent. He was rewarded with traces in the ornate office desk. Fortunately, the lock was a simple matter. He was able to pick it with a claw, but it took time, and a bit of twisting his body about when he got stuck in the middle of opening the lock.

     At that moment, he heard someone at the door. He had only a couple of seconds before someone came through it, and he was stuck! He couldn't force it or his claw would break off inside and quite possibly rip enough flesh to leave a blood trail, and he couldn't use the Gateway as that would obliterate the lock. Either event would raise too many questions as to the tampering.

     Kimi could see the small pellet just beyond the reach of her claws. _Come here, you little--_ she growled with her eyes whirling orange. They flared for a moment and the BB rolled into her clutches.

     "Kimi! What are you doing?" Sebell demanded when he unlocked and opened the door.

     _I got it!_ Kimi chirped, holding it up in triumph.

     "Kimi! Come to bed, already!" Sebell sleepily complained. He muttered as he went to pick her up. "What have you got there?" he asked, prying the object from her grip with his fingers. It looked like a small metal pellet. Sebell stood for several moments, blinking as he tried to remember where he'd seen its like before.

     Finally, too tired to worry about it, he set it in an empty dish among the messy collection of hides and notes on Robinton's desk. Carrying his gold queen out, he paused to look about the office before closing the door, puzzled by what pulled him here. The noise was too much for it to be just his gold fire-lizard, but Kimi's eyes whirled greens and blue from her happy attitude. Shrugging, Sebell closed the door and locked it, then walked to his room.

     Ryuu waited for the sound of his door down the hall shutting and a few more seconds before poking his head above the desk. He sighed in relief as he stood, shaking his hand. The lock had released just before Sebell had entered and Ryuu had no place to hide but in the knee well. He counted his blessings that Kimi cooperated by not revealing his location.

     He spotted the transponder in the dish and carefully picked it up and examined it. It had a bad dent from some impact, and was quite possibly damaged beyond use. He remembered the ship's computer had told him there had been an activation of a transponder that suddenly ceased to function in less than a millihorond during the middle of his first night at the Harperhall.

     Putting the pellet back on the dish, he opened the desk drawers, only to find them filled with Robinton's notes and other stuff, but no injector.

     "Frrack!" he spat. "They've sent it somewherre else!"

     He considered his options then came up with an idea. He carefully unlatched the shutter, but left it closed. Then he activated the Gateway to change back into his smallest dragon form.

     Ryuu scanned the rooms nearby with his mind, detecting only Sebell and Kimi in range as they settled into sleep.

     _Hmm. This'll be difficult to do from a distance,_ Ryuu considered as he sat on Robinton's desk. _But I should be able to manage._ He patiently waited, focusing his mind on the slumbering man.

 

     Sebell's dreams that night were disturbing and very vivid. More so, in that he could still recall them several days later.

     There was music, which wasn't abnormal, but the tunes and clarity was different than he'd ever remembered.

     Images flowed and shifted, and snatches of conversations competed for dominance, but one slow, soothing melody dominated above all, just a few sharp, clear notes from a harp or something like it repeated over and over.

     His queen, Kimi-the-dream-dragon, was there, as always. A magnificent creature, every bit as large and noble as Ramoth. She was always in his dreams, to help and protect him.

     But this time, she too, seemed confused by something. However, the dream progressed, and a scene came into focus, one that he remembered from last night...

     "You know, I'm going to miss you while you're out," Sebell said turning over on his side. They were in bed, having just said goodbye to each other because of her upcoming trip.

     "So you can't come with us?" Menolly asked, confirming what she'd heard. Sebell shook his head.

     "Sorry. Can't," he said. "Someone has to stay and keep an eye on Ryuu and his people while Piemur shows Robinton what he found."

     "And you really think Ryuu's part of a conspiracy to throw Ruatha into contention?" Menolly asked. Sebell looked at her as if she lost her mind. "I mean, look at my fair," she said. "They all like him. Kimi and Zair, too." She giggled. "It's almost like he's another Ruth, the way they go on about him."

     Kimi-the-dream-dragon crooned at the mention of her name.

     "I know," Sebell said, distressed. "But we had our experience with the Oldtimers, too. And some of them have fire-lizards. Some of them are dragonriders. Some of them can even talk to dragons like Lessa. Well, maybe not as good as Lessa." He shook his head.

     Sebell knew something was wrong. "Weren't you with Ryuu?" he asked his dragon.

     _Male gold! Still am!_ Kimi cheerfully chirruped, looking down at a large sleek black feline nestled in her arms. The huge creature blinked at him before turning to look at Kimi-the-dream-dragon. She looked down at the feline and they fondly touched noses.

     "I want to believe them," Sebell said turning back to Menolly. "But we can't take the risk. Given what Piemur found, it's just too dangerous. If Ryuu's got something from that cot that can do the things he described..."

     Suddenly, Menolly sat up in bed, gasping.

     "Beauty!" she exclaimed. They both jumped out of bed and grabbed their clothes.

     "Is she in trouble?" Sebell asked, looking at his dream-dragon. She, too, blinked in confusion. "Kimi won't tell me what's happened!"

     "Something's surprised her!" Menolly cried. "Diver won't answer, either!"

     The large feline climbed out of the queen's hold and began padding along, curiosity evident on the creature's face. The music playing somewhere changed, transforming to a number of gitar chords, drums, and violins forming a sad, sweet tune that also played repeatedly.

     In two minutes they were at the door to the apartment they provided Ryuu, but the door was locked. Menolly was about to pound on it for Ryuu to open up, but Sebell stopped her.

     "Wait," he said. "I've got the spare key." However, when he used it to unlock the latch, the handle was stuck. It took him a few more tries to ensure the key had worked, when the handle finally turned with a loud crack.

     "Must've been corroded stuck," he said, opening the door. The guest area was still lit from a pair of unshielded glows, but the sleeping quarters were dark and the door nearly shut. Their three fire-lizards plus Piemur's Farli were lounging on the dining table, staring toward the sleeping area. As one, they turned to look at the intruders. Kimi gave him a happy cheep and Kimi-the-dream-dragon started up a cheerful conversation with the memory of herself.

     "What happened to you guys?" Sebell whispered, coming in, followed by Menolly. She quickly rushed to Beauty, who trilled questioningly.

     "That's what I was going to ask you," Menolly quietly told her queen. "Where's Ryuu?"

     _Went to sleep place,_ Diver replied, truthfully.

     "What's wrong? What happened to you?" Menolly quietly asked her.

     _Male gold!_ Beauty happily replied. Her eyes lazily blinked over her whirling green and blue eyes.

     "She says it's just impossible," Menolly whispered to Sebell. "That's all I can get out her."

     "That's all I can get out of Kimi, too," Sebell said. "They're just being so smug about it. Probably something Diver did." He watched as Kimi-the-fire-lizard and Kimi-the-dream-dragon engaged in their animated and amicable conversation with each other.

     He noticed Ryuu's clothes had been laid out over the back of the sofa, and after ensuring nothing had happened to his queen, he checked on the outfit. He found an ornamental pin, a flattened teardrop shaped rock, and two of the slim pill boxes Ryuu had shown them earlier, and a rod with a gold prism-shaped attachment at one end. That was all. Nothing like what Piemur described, but the rod could be a different model of the same type device. He instantly slipped it in his pocket.

     The fire-lizards snapped their heads toward the bedroom, then Beauty and Kimi looked back at their owners.

     _Diver helped,_ Beauty and Kimi told them. Diver cocked his head at what he was listening to. He looked back at Menolly.

     Nothing _is_ between _!_ he said. The other fire-lizards quickly echoed that.

     The two harpers looked at each other in confusion.

     "Let's get out of here before we wake Ryuu," Sebell said. "You guy's going to be okay here? If there's any trouble, I want you out!" he told them.

     _Male gold!_ Beauty happily said. Menolly looked at her in consternation. It was almost as if she were drunk!

     _No trouble!_ Diver firmly added.

     Nothing _is_ between! Kimi-the-fire-lizard finished.

     _Can I stay again?_ Kimi-the-dream-dragon asked. _Male Gold_ fun _!_

     Farli chirped her encouragement, too, making them wince in concern of waking Ryuu. All the fire-lizards eyes were whirling blue and green.

     Resigned that their fire-lizards felt comfortable with the strange man, Sebell and Menolly snuck out carefully closing and locking the door.

     Outside, Ryuu was standing in the hallway, watching them disapprovingly. Menolly didn't seem to notice, but Sebell felt as though he was going to have a heart attack.

     "So that's when you took that!" he grumbled, but did nothing to stand in their way.

     Kimi-the-dream-dragon nosed at him in question. _Male Gold?_ she asked anxiously.

     "Now, Kimi, don't be so greedy," Ryuu said, laughing. He began following alongside the dream-queen.

     Sebell nervously knocked at Robinton's door. Every instinct told him to not implicate the MasterHarper, but he couldn't help himself.

     "MasterHarper! We've got something!" Sebell whispered pushing in. Menolly was with him and pressed in as well, followed by Kimi-the-dream-dragon and Ryuu.

     "Sebell? Menolly?" Robinton asked. "What are you doing up this late?"

     "Beauty had a fright in Ryuu's room!" Menolly said.

     "Is she okay?" Robinton asked genuinely concerned.

     "She seems to be," the girl replied uncertain. "Diver, Farli, and Kimi are with her and they don't seem to be disturbed."

     "Tuck!" Sebell suddenly exclaimed.

     "Wha-who? OH!" Menolly asked then exclaimed as a shadow emerged to reveal one of Robinton's long-time associates.

     "Still got the skills, Sebell," the man said grinning.

     "Maybe not as good as you," Sebell said. "But skills enough!" he finished with a grin, holding up the injector.

     "Be careful with that!" Robinton said. "Piemur said the device he found--"

     "--made a hole in the wall the size of a dragon with a flash of light," Sebell said, finishing for him.

     "SAY WHAT?" Ryuu exclaimed. Sebell glanced at him nervously. For some reason, no one else in the room noticed the-- _feline? A tall, skinny, tawny feline standing like a human?_

     "Yes, I was there when he told us," Sebell nervously told Robinton. "But while this doesn't match Piemur's description, it is the closest thing to the shape I could find. Unless Ryuu was sleeping with it under his pillow...?" He looked nervously at Ryuu who shrugged his shoulders.

     "Now that looks like the device Ryuu was holding over the fire-lizards," Tuck said.

     "Zair?" Robinton asked his bronze. "Do you recognize this?"

     _Tickle!_ the fire-lizard cheeped.

     "He used it on Beauty and the others?" Menolly asked astonished.

     "He may have used it on Zair," Robinton said. "Where, Zair? Where did he tickle?"

     _Belly!_ the bronze said, rubbing his stomach.

     "Hmm, I can't feel anything abnormal," Robinton said, rubbing his finger over the area Zair indicated.

     "Let me see that," Tuck said, holding his hand to Sebell. "Now Ryuu held it like this," he said, setting his thumb against the trigger on the slant of the prism.

     "Tuck!" Robinton cried out. "What are you doing?"

     "Relax," he said, aiming the evident nozzle toward window. "This wouldn't be your dragon-hole maker. But I think it's that 'transponder injector' he was going on about."

     There was a soft _pft_! Zair, Snap, and Kimi-the-dream-dragon whipped their heads about trying to follow something pinging on the walls.

     _Whiplash!_ Zair exclaimed, violently shaking his head and blinking in surprise.

     _I just got its egg!_ Kimi-the-dream-dragon told him. _How can it be laying_ now _? Not jumped_ between _!_ She sniffed about the floor under the file cabinet where it ended up.

     "Will you be careful with that?" Menolly yelled.

     "I think that's enough experimenting for tonight," Robinton said, gently, but firmly removing the device from Tuck's grasp. "In the morning, we'll have a talk with Ryuu."

     "But what about Beauty and the others?" Menolly asked.

     "Kimi and the rest can back each other up," Sebell said to her. "They didn't seem to be concerned about him."

     "But what if he's done something already?" she demanded. "She did call out in surprise!"

     "But was that Ryuu?" Sebell asked. "They didn't seem to fear him. Like I said, maybe Diver did something that surprised her?" he suggested.

     _You don't have to worry about them,_ Ryuu said. Sebell turned to look. This time, he saw a very strange looking gold dragon, about the size of a large watch-wher, and if anything, meaner and more vicious looking.

     He (she?) had a small, angular head with a set of formidable tusks sticking out from both upper and lower jaws. The snout was much longer and flatter than any draconic species he was familiar with. Even more unnerving were the triangular blood red eyes with silvery slitted pupils, not at all like the facetted eyes of a normal dragon. The brilliant red color didn't whirl, but was a solid angry gleam. Ryuu's emaciated scaled body was very lean, but muscular bulges defined his (her?) gold limbs and the tail ended with a long whip-like tip, not at all like any dragon on Pern.

     _A couple of things I want to know: where's the injector you stole?_ Ryuu-the-nightmare-gold-dragon demanded, _and what's this about devices punching holes in walls?_

     "Robinton?" Sebell asked, looking about. But no one was around, nor was he in any room or place that he recognized. The environment was just featureless gray plains stretching out to an infinite horizon. Kimi-the-dream-dragon was still with him, crooning toward the strange gold; her eyes whirling greens and blues.

     _Why aren't you helping me?_ Sebell demanded of the dream-dragon.

     _"Oh my love, it's a long way we've come..."_ lyrics suddenly joined the tune that had been running in the surrounding air. _Well this scenery and music certainly don't match!_ Sebell thought. And there was a weird echoing quality to the words, as if it was a dragon's mental voice doing the singing.

     The strange gold glared at him with half-lidded eyes. He didn't know which was spookier: their solid red color, the silvery pupils, the fact the eyelid slid up from the bottom of the eye, or the red forked tongue flicking out from the dragon’s mouth to taste the air.

     Red _tongue?_ Sebell thought. _Dragons don't have_ red _tongues!_

     _Hmm..._ Ryuu muttered in disgust. _Now I have to figure out just how far away_ that _place is! Now, let's see about your little toys..._

     "Weren't you two taught not to listen to other peoples conversations?" Robinton snapped at them. Sebell blinked in surprise. It was earlier yesterday, and he was in Robinton's private quarters just off the office, where he had listened to Jaxom's conversation with the MasterHarper. Kimi-the-dream-dragon started, or re-started, her conversation with her earlier self. Sebell caught how she was telling Kimi-the-fire-lizard to look forward to Ryuu and Male Golds.

     And still, that strange song played over the air. The poignant melody punctuated by soft, rapid notes from an unfamiliar instrument.

     _"These are the hands that built America..._

     _"Ah-ha...America..."_

     "I nearly broke my nose on that door!" Piemur complained. Robinton chuckled.

     "Serves you right!" he said. "How much did you catch?"

     "From the part about him and Ruth coming across that group of felines Ryuu killed."

     "They must've been almost on top of you," Robinton observed.

     "They were!" Piemur said. "I had the wherry of a time keeping Farli from going to say 'hi' to Ruth. But back to the subject, those felines weren't dead! Not until I killed them!"

     " _You?_ " Sebell exclaimed.

     "Shit!" Ryuu hissed. Sebell looked over to see he had changed back to that weird biped feline.

     "As I was saying," Piemur began, "I was so busy fighting Farli, and Stupid was worried about Ruth showing up, that none of us knew we were that close to that cluster of big felines.

     "Suddenly, there was this strange flash of light through the trees and sounds of this horrendous fight going on for a couple of minutes and Farli's eyes were whirling white! Then it got quiet. There was another flash of light, and I thought I heard voices. Then Farli said Ruth showed up again. I heard Jaxom talking with Ryuu, and then they left.

     "I stepped out into the clearing and saw all those dead felines!" he said with a shudder.

     "I thought you said they weren't dead," Sebell pointed out. "But that you killed them."

     "Well I can see why Jaxom thought they were," Piemur explained. "When I first saw them, I thought so, too. Only there wasn't a mark on them. I couldn't tell how they were killed. I was puzzling that out when I saw them all start to stir! I had only enough time to use my knife to finish them off before they woke up! When I was able to calm down again, I checked them all. The only wounds they had were from my knife!"

     "I did _not_ want that to happen to them," Ryuu said, putting his paws to his eyes as he wept.

     "Then what did he do to the felines?" Robinton asked.

     "I've no idea," Piemur replied. "Although, it might have been something he got from an ancient settlement I located nearby."

     "Come again?" Robinton demanded.

     "I came across a shelter by the seashore that could only have been an ancient settlement," Piemur explained. "I was about to send for a retrieval when Jaxom and Ruth showed up. Naturally, I went to see what they were up to. That's how I ended up sending for N'ton."

     "The settlement, young Piemur," Robinton growled.

     Sebell watched Ryuu as the others talked and caught him transforming from feline to human as the man listened to Piemur.

     _"You gotta live in your dreams...don't make them so hard! Uh-huh!"_

     "Well, while I was there, I found some devices I can't begin to explain, including something that might have made a flash like I saw through the trees and injured those felines."

     "How so?" Robinton asked.

     "Well, it was a bit longer than a belt knife," Piemur explained. "There was a grip for the hand and a trigger. When I tested it, it made a flash. And a hole in the wall as big as a dragon."

     Robinton's eyes got nearly as big as a dragon. Ryuu's got shrewd.

     _"These are the hands that built America..._

     _"Uh-huh...America..."_

     "And this Ryuu character might have something like that?" Sebell exclaimed. "Do you still have the one you found?"

     "Well, uh-no," Piemur meekly replied. "When I saw the hole that thing made, I dropped it."

     "Did you break it?" Robinton demanded.

     _"Of all of the promises, is this one we can keep?"_

     "Uh-I'm afraid more than broke it," Piemur said, gulping. "It started making some strange noise that got so bad that Farli and Stupid bolted out of there. I ran after them, and got out of the shelter just before it vanished in an explosion and a flash of light."

     "We better check this Ryuu out!" Sebell said to Robinton.

     "Jaxom said he's with Oldive," Robinton said. "Let's go."

     "Well that certainly explains a lot of what's going on," Ryuu said as the scene faded away into the same featureless gray plains. He stood up as his chair faded away. "Well, there's nothing more to do, but clean up here..."

     _"Of all of our dreams...is this one still out...of reach?"_ the song reached an emotional climax and distracted Sebell from Ryuu.

     _"HAliee! Aliee! Yee--ahw!"_

     Suddenly, Kimi-the-dream-dragon reared upon her haunches and gave a blood-curdling scream along with the song.

     "What _is_ that?" Sebell asked. Ryuu gave him a puzzled look before glancing over his shoulder.

     _It's early Fall...There's a cloud on the New York skyline_

     "Ah!" Ryuu said with a mixture of grimace and smirk. "I forgot you're something of a musician." Sebell had never heard that word before, but somehow knew it meant 'harper' but without the non-musical duties. "It's just something running around in my mind. But you don't need to worry about..."

     _Innocence...dragged across a yellow line..._

     Suddenly, Kimi-the-dream-dragon interposed herself before Ryuu, crying pitifully.

     "Now, Kimi, I can't just let him go about with this kind of knowledge," Ryuu said to her. She continued to beg and Ryuu looked thoughtful for awhile as the song ended.

     "Well, I suppose that it would be cruel of me to wipe his memory of the music," Ryuu said as he melted into that nightmare-dragon, _but I can't leave the song and still remove this experience._

     Kimi-the-dream-dragon begged him not to hurt Sebell. The odd-looking gold glared at the man standing there.

     _That's true,_ the gold Ryuu finally said. _This_ is _only a dream, after all. I guess it can't hurt too much to leave him with this._ With that, Ryuu-the-nightmare-dragon back winged and lifted off to fly away. The image of a sailboat came into focus and the strange creature gave it a curious glance before flying off in another direction. Sebell watched the boat as it slid by and saw with horror that it was the one that Robinton, Menolly, and Piemur had set sail upon to go to the Southern Continent.

     Sebell woke with a start. He sat up, nervously sweating. Kimi looked at him with excited whirling blue orbs. She was very happy to see him awake and curiously seemed relieved about something.

     _That was fun!_ she announced. _Do again?_

 

     Ryuu sighed deeply as he sat on Robinton's desk.

     _Now to find which of these provincial capitols is Telgar Hold and the Smithcrafthall,_ he thought, looking at a map of the northern continent hanging on the wall. _Ah! There it is!_ he said, spotting the lettering. Then something pulled at a memory, something from the ship's scans when they first arrived in orbit. He remembered there seemed to be a hub of telegraphic signals in that general area.

     _Okay, that_ does _make sense, now,_ he concluded. He jumped to the window and gently pulled the shutters open in preparation to leaving, then froze.

     There, winging above the hall, was a brown dragon and his rider. The dragon was scrutinizing the hall very closely, and Ryuu slowly closed the shutters again.

     He recalled there was a brown dragon on the heights above the Fort Hold when Kimi had teleported them after his encounter with Camo.

     _He must've been attracted to my using the Gateway,_ Ryuu surmised. As he considered his options, he spotted a grill in the upper part of the wall.

     _Hmmm, ventilator shafts,_ he muttered. Flying up there, the little dragon quickly undid the fasteners and slipped inside.

 

     Ryuu reached his room and retrieved a spare communicator he had left there. Once inside his quarters, he activated the Gateway and reverted to human form. Then, picking up the badge, he signaled the _Panthro_.

     "I'll be needing a replacement outfit sent down," Ryuu told the ship's computer. "I've located the injector. Evidently, they've taken it to that area of telegraphic signals you detected."

     "Well at least you _finally_ found something you lost on this trip!" Puma said, cutting in. Ryuu rolled his eyes.

     _Great! Here we go again,_ he thought.

     "That's right!" Ryuu said. "And it wouldn't have _been_ lost if it hadn't been stolen!"

     "Transport is in progress," Panthro warned him. But instead of just the pile of replacement clothing, three additional tall columns formed as well.

     _Now, what?_ Ryuu wondered as the columns resolved into not only Puma, but Wolf and Arye as well.

     "What's this?" he asked once they had finished materializing.

     "As you pointed out, we're all compromised," Arye explained. "Since we want to make our target at ease, we thought it would be better if the whole lot of us made the show of leaving, not just you."

     "By the way, just what is it that you lost down here again?" Puma pressed. "I heard you lost an injector?"

     "It was stolen, so I was going to retrieve it," Ryuu growled. _I'm also going to find that bulk-tape eraser and have a long talk with that flaming computer,_ he thought to himself.

     "Oh, and by the way," Ryuu continued. "I just found out why we're under so much scrutiny. It seems someone found an old blaster or energy weapon down here close to where I encountered the white dragon and his rider." Puma just stared at him with an exasperated expression. "What?" Ryuu demanded.

     "That really _is_ just so typical of you!" she spat. "And we're supposed to believe you're _really_ innocent _this time_ , too?"

     " _Fine!_ " Ryuu said, throwing up his hands and walking for the bedchamber. "Flame it! I'm going to sleep. Try not to make too much noise."

     "Don't walk out--" Puma started, but halted when Ryuu whirled back upon her, and his face was livid.

     " _Shut up!_ " he hissed. Outside, a dragon bellowed and they could hear fire-lizards screaming and flying about.

     "Not this time," Wolf said, grabbing Puma's shoulders and pulling her back. "We don't have time for this!" he told her.

     Her face registered her shock at not being allowed to confront Ryuu as she normally could.

     "How can you--?" she asked Wolf.

     "Because he _really is innocent this time!_ " Wolf hissed at her. "Can't you accept that for once? How could he have planted the blaster, just so that we get caught up in this planet's politics? _Panthro's_ been monitoring everything we've brought down and it's all accounted for."

     Ryuu wasn't accustomed to having his own battles fought for him and was at a loss for how to deal with Wolf's interference. Instead, he simply left to go to the other room.

     _So goes another lovely end to another perfect day,_ he sarcastically thought to himself.  


At Sea heading South:

     Menolly woke with a start, momentarily puzzled by her surroundings. Then she remembered she, Robinton, and Piemur had set sail for the Southern Continent. Of her fire-lizards, only Beauty stirred in her slumber.

     _Male Gold!_ she happily sighed before drifting back off to sleep. It further puzzled Menolly why so many of the fire-lizards she knew were suddenly fixated by that particular reference of "impossibility" as if no other applicable phrase existed.

     _And just what_ was _it that is so "impossible"?_ she wondered. She only knew it had something to do with that strange, and quite possibly dangerous, Ryuu.

     She rose from her hammock, taking care to not rouse her queen, and climbed up to the deck for some air. The clear night sky was bright with the stars and Belior, the larger of the two moons.

     "Not sea-sick are you?" Piemur teased from the wheel where he was standing watch.

     "Hardly," Menolly grumbled uncharacteristically moody. Piemur instantly became concerned. In all the time he'd known her, she'd never responded to him like that.

     "What's wrong?" he asked with a low whisper. Whatever it was, it must be serious to disturb Menolly on a night like this. The wind was cooperating for their journey south, the waves were gentle, and there wasn't a soul that could disturb her for thousands of lengths.

     "I don't know," Menolly said, rubbing her arms to ward off the chill she felt, despite the warm equatorial evening. She hung her head in shame at her own obvious lie. She did know.

     "Ryuu," she muttered.

     "Oh," Piemur responded, understandingly.

     "I'm worried about Sebell," Menolly said. "I just had the most disturbing dream. Sebell had a confrontation with Ryuu, but--I don't know--the details are fading. I saw _something_ , but I can't figure out what it was."

     "Do you think he's in danger?" Piemur asked.

     "That's what so bizarre that I can't figure out," Menolly said. "It was as if Ryuu was looking for something and was doing something to Sebell to try and find it--but Kimi was there--and Ryuu stopped short of hurting him. And there were weird felines and even stranger dragons."

     "And that woke you?" Piemur asked.

     "No," Menolly replied fearfully. "After leaving Sebell, Ryuu then looked at _us_!" she said, looking into his eyes. "Then he went away, leaving Sebell to worry about _us_! That's when I woke."

     "Shells!" Piemur hissed. "You don't think--no, it's just a dream, right?"

     "I don't know," Menolly whispered. "If it weren't for that something else--and a dragon--a strange dragon. It might make sense if Ryuu is a dragonrider, or has a dragonrider helping him. Lessa said they _can_ listen to our minds if they wish."

     "Should we tell Robinton?" Piemur asked.

     "It's probably just nervous jitters," Menolly said, unconvinced by her own reluctance to discuss it. "Ryuu just gives me the oddest feeling. He's obviously dangerous to attack Sebell like that, but he seems to be trying to keep his evil nature hidden. And we don't know what or who he's looking for."

     "But if you're right," Piemur pointed out, "if Ryuu does have a dragon at his disposal, then the Oldtimers might be waiting for us when we get there!"

     Menolly bit her lip, uncertain how to proceed. On the one hand, she did owe it to her mentor to notify him immediately. But on the other, she didn't want him to worry needlessly. It was, after all, only a dream. Even if Ryuu and an Oldtimer dragon were involved in some plot to drive Ruatha and the North into contention, the behavior of Robinton's, Piemur's, and her own fire-lizards belied her suspicions.

     "Well, let's consider it in the morning," Menolly suggested. "It's silly to wake him this time of night for something so insubstantial. We're still days from reaching the cot anyhow."

     "Sure," Piemur agreed.

     As Piemur watched her from the wheel, Menolly went to sit on the forecastle. She stared at the waves generated by the craft cutting through the calm waters, letting her mind drift along with her own turbulent thoughts, clutching the end of a line as her own anchor. And as she weathered her inner tempest, she absently tapped out a sad, slow rhythm on the tip of the rope....


	3. Part 3

**Part 3:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.16:

     "...and so he blows his entire comm system in spectacular fashion and is left sitting there facing a fleet of over thirty battle--" Ryuu was saying when he opened the door and turned to walk out into the corridor. "WHOA!" he exclaimed, hitting the breaks.

     The others, laughing at the interrupted anecdote, were following him out when they likewise stopped in shock upon seeing Sebell. His gold fire-lizard draped across his shoulders began a massive yawn.

     "Oh, my God!" Arye exclaimed.

     "What happened to you?" Puma asked.

     "Other than being dragged home by the tunnel-snake?" Ryuu asked.

     _Which obviously got tired of playing with him,_ Wolf sent. Kimi snapped her jaws shut and glared at him, as did Ryuu and the others.

     "What?" Wolf asked them in a defensive manner.

     Sebell stood there, glaring at Ryuu. It was evident that the man had a rough night and hadn't gotten any sleep. His eyes were showing huge bags and he even developed a slight twitch in one eyelid.

     After he woke, Sebell couldn't get back to sleep due to his worry over his dream. And there was that strange music playing throughout the scenes. The words were odd, with the names of strange Holds, but the music was so exquisite. It had such a compelling and emotive tune that he couldn't risk losing it if he _did_ manage to get back to sleep.

     Sebell had only just finished recording the tune when dawn came, the greatest difficulty he had was trying to identify some of the instruments he heard. Some were like nothing he had ever heard before and he was frustrated, knowing his choices of substitution would be far too inadequate for the job.

     Coming out for klah and breakfast, he heard voices coming from Ryuu's quarters and was about to pound on the door when they walked out.

     "What?" Ryuu asked after waiting several moments and Sebell just staring at him.

     "This is your fault," Sebell growled.

     "Me?" Ryuu asked astonished.

     "No surprise there," Puma muttered. "Ryuu's always causing trouble."

     "Not me," Ryuu said. _I left him sound asleep,_ he sent to them.

     "Must've been some dream," Wolf said.

     _He stayed up playing with his scribbles,_ Kimi told them. _He was interested in that music he heard._

     "Oops," Ryuu muttered under his breath. _I guess it_ was _my fault,_ he sent to Puma as he grinned at her. Puma punched him in his back.

     " _Ko-no ji-jii!_ " she hissed. " _Ba-ka i-ten-de-nai-you!_ " she punched him again.

     "gyi-ii!" Ryuu exclaimed as he squirmed under her blows, but he quickly straightened and shook off their effect.

     "Any way, how was your day?" Ryuu cheerfully asked the Harper.

     Sebell blinked in surprise. He could've sworn he must've just missed something right there.

     "What was it you were saying just a moment ago?" he asked trying to figure out what it was.

     "Oh-h, just something unfortunate that happened to a very unpleasant person a long time ago," Ryuu said with a grin, shrugging his shoulders. "Nothing to worry about."

     "Uh-well!" Ryuu continued cheerfully while Sebell considered that. "Anyhow, Arye's found a clue last night about our missing relative," the strange man said, deftly changing the subject. "We'll be leaving now. Nice seeing you again. Hope your sleep improves. We've got to get on after her."

     Sebell blinked in surprise when they turned to walk down the hallway together.

     "What?" he demanded. "Who are you looking for?"

     "Our missing relative," Wolf ventured as they paused to talk with him. "She's gone east." Sebell's face noticeably paled.

     "A bit north of east?" Ryuu suggested, noting the harper's reaction. It didn't improve. Instead, it got worse.

     "GUARDS!" Sebell suddenly screamed.

 

At sea:

     "Zair, do you sense anything from Ryuu?" Robinton asked his bronze fire-lizard after listening to what Menolly had to say.

     _Ryuu fun!_ Zair announced. _Can I go see him?_

     "No!" Robinton nearly shouted in horror. "Is he watching us? Does he have a dragon looking in on us?"

     _No,_ Zair sadly sighed.

     It puzzled the MasterHarper how uncooperative their friends had suddenly become when the issue about Ryuu came up. It was almost as if they were protecting _him_ for some reason.

     "I don't like this one little bit," he complained. "Menolly, how much longer till we reach Piemur's cot?"

     "Less than a sevenday if the weather cooperates," she replied from the wheel. The worry about Ryuu was showing on her face as well and Robinton regretted having her involved this deep with such an obviously dangerous person.

     That the man had so nearly harmed Sebell the day before unnerved them all. But with Menolly's suspicion that he might actually be a dragonrider would mean they were courting disaster. The clues were there, of course. That the man could be injured one day and the next time he was seen, he was healthy. Such a thing could only happen if he were timing it, but whether from his own dragon or a co-conspirator, they couldn't be certain. Bloody dangerous under the best of circumstances, but for Ryuu and for the rest of Pern, what did his actions portend?

     He regarded his bronze friend and worried. The creature and their larger cousins had the most fantastic abilities aside from their practical use to protect the planet from Thread. They could reach in and touch a person's mind! And they were immensely loyal to protecting Pern and their friends.

     But until now, he had never considered the implications if those wondrous creatures could be turned to harming people.

     "What _is_ he planning?" Robinton quietly asked aloud.

 

     Menolly had her own concerns regarding Ryuu. But for some reason, her mind constantly drifted off the stranger and on to that strange tune she remembered from her dream. She had to fight to keep her thoughts focused, but the routines of controlling the skiff or the antics of her fair of fire-lizards forcefully pulled her attention back to that song.

     Aunties One and Two were haranguing Diver, Blue Uncle, and Brownie over fish they caught.

 

" _...Last saw your face..._

" _...in a water-colored sky..._

" _...as seagulls argued..._

" _...a long goodbye..._ "

 

     _By the First Egg, what are 'seagulls'? Did_ I _think of such a word?_ she wondered. _Another word for 'fire-lizards'?_ She chuckled at the verse. _It couldn't paint_ this _image any better,_ she thought.

     But it made her frown when she tried to substitute 'fire-lizard' for the strange word. _It just doesn't fit the song, no matter how I try!_ she fumed.

     "But did _I_ really think of this song, or did Ryuu send it to me somehow?" she wondered aloud. "It must've been him!" she concluded. "What else could explain the names of those strange Holds?"

 

Harperhall:

     "Who the hell is Aramina?" Wolf quietly asked Ryuu.

     "And Thella?" Arye asked him.

     "How the hell should _I_ know?" Ryuu muttered.

     "Who _else_ have you been messing around with?" Puma demanded.

     "Nobody, I swear," Ryuu quickly replied. "Just...Beauty," he finally admitted after several moments of her glaring. "And Farli. And Kimi, there," Ryuu added after a pause. Puma's painful shot to his ribs with her elbow made his eyes bug out.

     "But that was two nights ago!" Ryuu squeaked as he hunched over his side. "And Diver was there, too!"

 

     "I agree with you, Sebell," Lessa was saying. "I don't trust him either, but too many things are at odds for him to be in league with Thella. For one, they _all_ seem to be able to hear dragons, so why does Thella still need Aramina?"

     "And if that's true, why aren't they out there _with_ Thella?" Groghe's naturally deep voice nearly overwhelmed his effort for the quiet discussion.

     "But you haven't been able to find her, either?" Sebell asked through his yawn.

     "Unfortunately no," F'lar quietly said making everyone focus on him. He had kept quiet throughout the discussion as N'ton, Groghe, Lessa, and Sebell convened the trial, just sitting there, watching the defendants over steepled fingers.

     "But there is still the possibility they are in league with the Old-timers and trying to disrupt Ruatha," he quietly said, reminding them of Lessa's argument. "We can't discount that."

     "Or maybe it's not Ruatha they're after. What if the Southerners somehow found out about Aramina and want her for themselves?" Sebell asked.

     F'lar winced in sympathy when he saw Puma suddenly elbow Ryuu in his side.

     _That had to hurt,_ he thought. From the face Ryuu made, it probably did.      The rattling of their chains got the attention of the others. Everyone looked at the defendants as Ryuu struggled to keep from collapsing.

     "May I ask a question?" the big red-haired man known only as Wolf quietly spoke up. He, like F'lar, had been quiet during the entire proceedings, evidently watching the planetary leaders as the bronze rider watched them.

     "Proceed," Sebell said, trying to suppress a yawn.

     "Would it be a crime if the person we were seeking _was_ this Aramina?" Wolf asked.

     "I don't think that's possible, Wolf," Ryuu spoke out before anyone could reply. He still was holding his side, but straightened up to speak. "They know where their girl is, and we know our target was here two days ago. They couldn't be the same person. She left with a dragon--" Then he stopped and stared at Sebell and the others.

     "You _do_ know where your Aramina is, don't you?" Ryuu suddenly asked.

     "No, we don't," F'lar admitted.

     "Oh, that's just great!" Ryuu said, rolling his eyes. "Not only are _we_ stuck back on square one, but so are they and now they're blaming _us_!"

     "Do you know which dragon?" Lessa demanded.

     "Uh, well, we really can't tell you," Ryuu said, wincing. "But my friends, Wolf and Arye, have reason to suggest she's someplace in Telgar Hold at the moment. We were about leaving to go there when we had this...unfortunate misunderstanding," he gestured by holding up his manacled hands.

     "And you're just going to ride runnerbeasts all the way to Telgar?" Groghe asked. "Why not ask a dragonrider?"

     "We...would prefer to walk," Ryuu quietly muttered.

     " _WALK?_ " Groghe burst out. "Do you have any idea how FAR that is?"

     "Distance isn't the problem. Time is. We would ... prefer ... not to spook our relative," Ryuu explained. "She bolted when she saw we were closing in on her here. We need her to get ... comfortable ... where she is so we can approach her slowly and make her feel at ease. Otherwise, we'll have to do this all over again from who-knows-where she'll end up, and nobody needs that."

     The colonists started to confer again when Ryuu spoke up again.

     "As for this Aramina, and Thella-person," he said, getting their attention once more, "we have no idea about them. But if we do, we would be sure to let you know."

     "But how did you find out she's in Telgar?" Sebell asked.

     "Oh, we have our sources," Ryuu explained with a wan smile.

     "Sebell, we simply don't have anything to hold them," Groghe rumbled. And clearly, from the dissatisfied expressions of the dragonriders, especially Lessa's, they didn't like that conclusion either, but they all agreed however reluctantly.

     "This time," Lessa muttered.

     "Next time, Sebell," F'lar said with kindly advice, "try to get some sleep before arresting someone."

     "Sorry," Sebell muttered. Then he spoke up for the benefit of the defendants.

     "I have to apologize to you all, on behalf of the Hold," he began.

     "Oh!" Ryuu cheerfully spoke up, interrupting. "No problem! No problem at all. After all, there's no real damage done." Then he rubbed his side.

     "Just a cracked rib or three," he muttered. "Punctured lung," he added, getting the attention of his comrades. "Ruptured spleen. Lacerated pancreas. Stomach acid leaking out..."

     "Paracentesis?" Wolf suggested when Ryuu faltered.

     "Paracentesis," Ryuu nodded toward him. " _Das ist gut!_ "

     "Enough," Puma growled. "Or I'll cave in a few more ribs!"

     Sebell suddenly stood up and walked around the tables and up to Ryuu. Ryuu was evidently puzzled by the intense stare the harper gave him. After looking at him for several moments, Sebell grabbed the wrist of Ryuu's left arm and pushed the sleeve up his forearm. Sebell stared in disbelief at the man's arm. Ryuu never so much as glanced down, but held a bemused expression as he looked up at Sebell. To confirm his suspicions, Sebell did the same to his other arm.

     "Tell us how you healed so quickly," Sebell demanded. "There's not so much as a mark showing you ever had those bites or scratches."

     "It's just a little trick I picked up from an old friend of mine," Ryuu said, grinning. "You might've heard of him? His name is Logan. He's from Canada." Sebell stared at him dumbfounded for several moments. After some time, Ryuu shrugged. "Or maybe not," he muttered.

     "Are these the hands that built America?" Sebell demanded. "I've never heard of that Hold."

     "What's that?" Ryuu asked innocently. "Sounds like a catchy title for a song. It should be a nice one, but it'd make a lousy movie."

     "What?" Sebell asked perplexed. Wolf snickered and Sebell whirled on him.

     "Sorry," Wolf apologized. "It's an inside joke."

     "Inside what?" Sebell demanded.

     "Inside his head," Arye said rolling her eyes. "Unless you've been there, you'll never get it." Kimi suddenly shook her head. She blinked in annoyance.

     _Been there! Don't get it!_ she complained.

     "Why am I not surprised?" Puma asked before Sebell could make a comment, but it did get her an annoyed look from Ryuu.

 

Ista Weyr:

     _Did I get you in trouble again?_ Stealth anxiously asked T'khill as the man worked to clean out the weyrling barracks.

     "Don't worry about it," T'khill said, gagging on the stench of the muck he was raking.

     _Why does Ryuu hurt you and M'leer?_ the bronze dragon asked. _Did you make him mad in the past?_

     "Oh, don't be silly," T'khill said, pausing in his work to go to comfort his dragon.

     _Still,_ he reflected privately, _Ryuu had been doing more than a fair share of using the Gateway._ When Stealth woke to sense T'khill suffering from the energy jolts, the bronze let out with his customary roars. _That_ woke the rest of the barracks. And _that_ got him and M'leer the assignment to clean out the beds where a couple of blues and a green had 'accidents'. On the other hand, it did give them the opportunity to run scans on some of the other hatchlings, thus satisfying Ryuu's request. If they can keep up such ostensive progress, he'd be less likely to come out to see just what the hell they're doing out here.

     "Like I told you, Stealth," T'khill explained to the growing creature, "Ryuu, M'leer, and I were engineered by creatures to be able to change from one form to another. But there's a price to be paid when we do. Energy and matter has to be conserved, and when one of us uses the Gateway, the transformation results in a change of mass that gets converted to energy. And since that energy is part of a circuit, the rest of us have function as the other ports for that energy."

     _Why?_ the dragon asked, still puzzled by T'khill's explanation.

     "That just the nature of the science _THEY_ used," T'khill said, shrugging. "Ryuu and Wolf seem to understand the principles better than the rest of us, but even they have no idea how it works, how we shunt the power instantly over such distances, or why we only sense the events after encountering one another actually using the Gateway."

     "And that's got me concerrned," Maleer spoke up. "Rryuu's been comprromised. Ourr tarrget is awarre of him, but he's _still_ using the Gateway. That's going to make herr know he's still on the planet looking forr herr."

     "You know him," T'khill said, rolling his eyes. "He claims he doesn't do anything without having planned for it. Personally, I think his claim is a load of--" he paused, thinking of an appropriate euphemism.

     "A load of this?" Maleer asked, gesturing to their work.

     "Is that the correct reference?" T'khill asked.

     "It is," Maleer said, laughing. T'khill, unaccustomed to humor, began to laugh, too.

     _T'khill, my tail feels uncomfortable,_ Stealth complained. The two suddenly stopped laughing and looked at each other in horror. The last dragon to say that was one of the blues just two seconds before he performed a major system dump. And, at the moment, Stealth was much farther than two seconds from the door.

     "Squit!" T'khill exclaimed.

     "This is trrue," Maleer muttered looking at their new assignment.

     _Did I do bad?_ Stealth meekly asked.

     "It's okay, Stealth!" T'khill quickly reassured the bronze.

     "Howeverr, in the futurre, substantially morre warrning would be grreatly apprreciated," Maleer sighed, starting her work.

 

Fort Weyr:

     "Oh this is wonderful!" Brekke exclaimed when she arrived at the tent. She woke this morning to find Sudeth's voice silent, and too fearful to analyze the fact she never heard the dragons screaming for a dead dragon, she was terrified to find the bronze had gone _between_ in the middle of the night. She rushed to the triage area as soon as she opened her eyes. But then she saw K'lid's smiling face as he came out of the tent.

     "He's asleep," K'lid said, weeping. "No pain! He's going to be okay!"

     "Oh! That's great news!" Brekke said, grabbing him in a hug. She felt the dragonman's body violently trembling and just as she was about to react to that, Mike and Sherri hurried forward to catch him.

     "Easy, there, big guy!" Mike said, taking most of K'lid's weight.

     "He's going into shock!" Sherri called out. "Somebody get him something to eat!"

     A few people were about the Weyr this morning and they either rushed forward to help or, like F'nor, ran off to the kitchens to bring food.

     When Brekke woke and ran out so quickly, he had chased after her then relaxed when he too saw K'lid reporting Sudeth had pulled through. He recognized the signs of the man collapsing just as Sherri and Mike rushed forward and at their call, knew what was needed.

 

     But one girl quietly stood, watching the scene as though she weren't really there. Lisa looked impassively at the scurrying people, completely detached from the events about her, save for one anchor: the high keening of dragons in pain. As their riders worked to apply numbweed to the wounds suffered by the dragons, their pain diminished.

     But one dragon she heard had agonized as the others hadn't. Then, in the middle of the night, its pain ended. Shortly thereafter, one of her special friends braved the possibility of being seen to report she had destroyed one of the alien robots. Still later, she felt several jolts shooting through her body, even as her friend stood guard. She feared her enemies had discovered her.

     "There is no indication their crew is aware of the fight," the tunnel-snake had told her. "I detected no signals from the robot."

     "Then what of these attacks on me?" Lisa had asked.

     "They seem to be a energy surges," the tunnel-snake had replied. "I have detected them occasionally in the past but you had felt nothing. Then again, there was very little leakage for detection. However, some of these recent surges do seem to be leaking, enough to be a danger to anyone in physical contact with you."

     "What's causing them?"

     "Unknown, but I do have a suspicion," the tunnel-snake had said. "The signatures match that which you generate when you _Change_ , but at a substantially smaller amplitude. One sixty-fourth, to be exact. One factor that does suggest an answer is when we watched the alien _Change_ , my counterpart was in physical contact with you. And he reported the increased leakage."

     "So it _is_ Ryuu!" Lisa spat.

     "He may be _Changing_ in an effort to flush you out of hiding," her companion had suggested. "Or he may be experiencing hazardous conditions that require him to _Change_ more frequently."

     "Can he trace me by _Changing_?" she fearfully asked.

     "Unlikely," the tunnel-snake then said after thinking about the possibility. "Unless _you Change_ , there does not seem to be enough leakage to detect without physical contact. His own _Changes_ would overwhelm any sensors he might employ to trace you. Additionally, we do know there must be more than just the two of you. He would have to keep track of his people randomly moving about as he tries to isolate your signal."

     Someone stirring in their bed had cut their conversation short, and her tunnel-snake had to depart. She stayed awake for the rest of the night, fearful that Ryuu could still trace her, despite the reassurances from her friend.

     Yet, there was still something strange about the way that dragon ceased to hurt...something that compelled her to come out to look for herself.

 

     "Too much worry and too little food!" Brekke agreed with Sherri's assessment. "Did he get any sleep at all?"

     "A little," Mike guiltily said.

     "Back away, please!" Brekke yelled at the crowd pushing in. "You all know the drill! He needs food and water and air!"

     "Here you go, K'lid," F'nor said, pushing through the mob. In his hands, he held some bread rolls and a goblet of water.

     "He's going to be alright!" K'lid was saying.

     "Not if you drive yourself _between_ ," K'nebel said as he arrived on the scene. He, Mike, and F'nor helped K'lid up and walked him to the mess hall.

     "We just finished looking in on the other riders and their dragons," Sherri reported to Brekke after the crowd dispersed. "They're complaining, but their wounds look minor, and their riders have already started to work in the medicine."

     "And Sudeth?" she asked as she pulled aside the tent flap. She stopped in the act of crossing the threshold.

     "He--got over it last night--" Sherri was saying when the sight brought them up short.

     In the dim, filtered light, they saw a young woman fearfully look up as she knelt by a bronze head clearly as large as she was.

     "Can we help you?" Brekke gently asked.

 

Harperhall:

     "Well, I'd say that went rather well," Ryuu said as they left the Harperhall.

     "How so?" Puma demanded. "That we got out of going to jail or whatever they do with their criminals?"

     "No," Ryuu replied. "That we got arrested in the first place." Puma and Arye both stopped and blinked in surprise. Wolf snorted.

     "How is that?" Puma asked.

     "Yeah," Arye spoke out. "I'm not following that logic, either."

     "We couldn't make our departure and direction any more public even if we had bought a front page ad on whatever passes as a newspaper here," Ryuu explained. "This way, our target in the Fort Weyr will hear that we've gone to Telgar, leaving Sherri and Mike free to spend the time to identify her, get to know her, and she to know and trust them."

     "And the hostile monitors?" Wolf asked. "We know one is still in the regional capitol."

     "I would assume the other is following us," Ryuu replied.

     "But the one in Fort believes it destroyed one of ours," Arye pointed out. "Won't it assume we would know of that attack?"

     "All the more reason to ignore it," Ryuu explained, grinning. "With Chrysaetos destroyed before he could signal us, we'd never trace her to the regional capitol. Capish?" he asked.

 

     "That was very fortunate that Ryuu didn't call _you_ to task," Groghe grumbled to Sebell after the strangers had left.

     "Indeed," F'lar said still looking at the door. "That was awfully risky of you."

     "To be honest, I was hoping he would," Sebell muttered. The others looked at him in shock. "It would've forced them to reveal something about themselves had they done so," Sebell explained.

     "The other night, Robinton had a friend listen in on Ryuu having a conversation with somebody named _Panthro_ ," Sebell told them. "It may have been Red Wolf, or another one of them. But it sounded very ominous. Unfortunately, Ryuu caught him."

     "What happened?" Groghe asked, his eyes bulging out larger than normal.

     "Same as what happened here," Sebell said, confused. "Essentially, all we had were suspicions that we couldn't substantiate and Ryuu knew it. Moreover," he paused, thinking, "it's as if Ryuu not only didn't mind being investigated, but was eager for us to pursue him even more." He looked at the others in total bafflement.

     "Well, I may have jumped _between_ without telling my dragon where to go," he muttered. A bemused F'lar clapped him on the shoulder.

     "Try not to worry about that," the bronze rider said. He glanced at Lessa with a wink. "Sometimes we make a bigger splash when we _do_ tell our dragons where to go."

     "But with Flynn and his group having escaped, I'm not totally convinced that Ryuu's people weren't involved," Sebell resumed his thoughts. "They evidently had something in mind when they were stalking each other."

     "How are your people?" N'ton asked.

     "Three guards dead, four seriously injured," Groghe grumbled. "And two harpers also seriously hurt. Definitely they had outside help."

     "Word got back here just this morning," Sebell told them.

     "Fort and Benden will definitely keep an eye on Ryuu and his people," F'lar told him and Sebell.

     "But can you be so discreet?" Groghe asked. "I'm not exactly stealthy, but I can certainly move more quietly than a man pulling a dragon in tow and I take up a lot less room, even compared to our little white friend."

     Lessa stared at the Lord Holder in admiration. The man wasn't noted for a quick wit, but he did have his moments. She began to suspect he may be more shrewd than they guessed.

     "Well, even Mnementh is smaller than a fire-lizard when viewed from a few hundred dragonlengths," F'lar said, not to be outdone. "I doubt Ryuu will notice."

     "Which way did they leave?" Groghe asked the guard half-an-hour later.

     "North," the man said, pointing. They all looked to see another Fort guard running toward them.

     "Th-the-they got on--on r--runner-beasts!" he reported as they rushed up to meet him.

     "Runner beasts?" Groghe bellowed.

     "Just--around the bend! St-still on--on their way--to Ruatha!"

     Groghe ran for his stables while N'ton and the Benden Weyrleaders called for their dragons.

 

     "Hmm, that didn't take long," Ryuu said to the others, not needing to see the three dragons that swooped out behind them. Lord Groghe and a dozen of the Fort soldiers also stampeded around the bend. The party stopped and waited as the Hold riders ran past and took up a position opposite the dragons landing behind Ryuu and his people.

     "G'day, Lord Groghe!" Ryuu said, giving him an easy salute. "Out for a spin, are we?"

     "Where did you get these runner beasts?" Groghe demanded as he jumped off his animal and stomped over to face Ryuu. Three guards flanked the Lord Holder as he stood there. Ryuu looked confused and looked at his companions and their horses.

     "They're ours," Ryuu said. Then he sighed, comprehending. "Ah! You think we stole them," he muttered as he slipped off the back of his horse and landed on his feet. "Well, you're welcome to try and take them to their rightful owners if you think they are stolen. But they'll tell you they belong to us."

     Groghe searched the animal that Ryuu had ridden. It's body was puzzling in that the stallion had the appearance of a much younger animal for its size. At fourteen hands, it seemed fully-grown, but had the conformation of a colt no more than nine months. Added to that, the Lord Holder could find no brand mark, no sign the animal had ever been shoed, and Ryuu and his people used only a blanket to ride on them. Not even bridles to control the beasts. He looked at the others' runner beasts, but their riders didn't dismount for the inspection.

     "Where are their brands?" Groghe demanded.

     "We don't believe in doing that to our horses," Ryuu said. That got a strange look from Groghe and the guards. "Our runner beasts," he corrected himself.

     "And their shoes?"

     "We don't do that either," Ryuu replied.

     "That's not the proper way to treat these animals," Groghe rumbled.

     "They're perfectly healthy," Wolf spoke up.

     "Until we can solve this mystery, we're going to hold you all--" That was as far as Groghe got when he reached for the stallion's mane to lead it away. The runner beast had other ideas.

     It shook off Groghe and suddenly reared up on it hind legs and planted a fore hoof on the chest of one the guards.

     Merga, Groghe's queen fire-lizard popped in, screeching at the animal, but the stallion laid its ears back and snapped at the fire-lizard, giving her a deep equine growl. Groghe was astonished to see his gold scream in terror and vanish. He glared at the bemused Ryuu calmly standing to one side as he watched.

     "Wasn't me," Ryuu said, shrugging his shoulders. "I swear."

     There was an uneasy calm as the stallion made no more hostile moves. As Ryuu reached down to help Groghe to his feet, the horse turned and walked toward the dragons. F'lar, who had dismounted Mnementh to assist Groghe stood puzzled by the animal's behavior. The guard stood under his own power and didn't appear to be hurt.

     The runner beast walked up to nose at the big bronze, then turned about and lifted its tail beneath the dragon's nose. F'lar couldn't believe his eyes as the animal calmly defecated then walked back to Ryuu.

     _This runner beast is lucky I just ate two days ago,_ Mnementh hissed. The stallion glanced back and snorted before resuming its walk to Ryuu.

     "He just doesn't care for dragons," Ryuu explained smiling. "But _I_ like you, Mnementh." He mounted his horse when it stopped in front of him.

     "You're welcome to try with the other--runner beasts," Ryuu told Groghe, "but I'm afraid you'll get the same results." Ryuu and his crew calmly rode off as the rest watched.

     Merga returned to Groghe and trembled as she curled about his shoulder.

     "Are you alright?" Groghe asked her.

     _T'jor mean!_ she complained with whirling eyes.

     "Did Ryuu cause you to run away?" he asked her. She whined in sadness.

     _Ryuu nice,_ she told him. _Why he let T'jor be mean to me? And to the Big One?_

     "Who's T'jor?" Groghe asked, puzzled. And he got the image of Ryuu's runner beast from his gold as she hissed.

     "Are you and your man alright?" F'lar asked coming up to them.

     "I'm okay, Sor," the guard replied. "Very strange. I saw how fast that hoof came at me. I tho sure that hoof would come out ma spine! But were just a shove."

     "Hmf!" Groghe grunted as he walked to his runner beast. But he paused in the act of mounting his runner. He _had_ a firm grip on the animal's mane before it knocked him down. Only the most unruly of beasts had ever successfully pulled away like that. Yet once it was done with its demonstration, the creature was as calm as you could wish.

     _Were Ryuu and his people so good with training their animals?_ he wondered as he finished getting up on his runner. If so, he wished he could get half that skill for his holders.

     "I wish you better luck following them, Benden," Groghe said to F'lar as he led his troops back to the hold.

 

     "Way to go, T'jor," Ryuu muttered, affectionately slapping his mount on the neck. "Keep it up and you might just get eaten."

     _Stupid lizards,_ the stallion sent back. _And I hate being this prey creature._

     "Hey, we've all been the horse at one time or another," Ryuu said, shrugging. "Get over it."

     "So we just keep riding until we get to Telgar?" Wolf asked.

     "Only a little while longer," Ryuu said. "Puma and I will keep going on foot. I want you and Arye to get back to the ship and coordinate everyone's movements. Also, can you check up on that area where I was searching on the Southern Continent? There's supposed to be a structure where someone found an old beam weapon, possibly an early phaser from the original colony. Make sure you find any remaining devices and disable them. Robinton's on his way there to search and will be there in a few days. I want him to find stuff that's safely damaged."

     "Sure, Ryuu," Wolf replied.

     "The rest of you," Ryuu said to their mounts, "hook back up with your Caitian counterparts, establish new identities, and filter into the Regional capitols and wait."

     _Wait for what?_ Q'pod, the other stallion, asked.

     "Wait for the possibility that our target may show up at your locations," Ryuu explained with a heavy sigh, "in case things at Fort go sour. Assuming that she doesn't kill us all first." He leaned back as he sat and closed his eyes.

     "Hmm, one in the air, at least one other on the ground," he quietly said, smiling.

     "Shadows?" Wolf asked.

     "I wish you wouldn't use that word," Ryuu grumbled. "We know who _those_ guys are! But yes, we have our local watchers keeping a few eyes on us. Lioth's hovering about ten kilohoramters above us to our rear. And that harper spy is about eight kilos back and to our left, watching from the tree line."

     They all stopped to glare at him.

     "What?" Ryuu demanded. "And Puma! Stop looking for them!"

     "Wolf is the expert tracker!" Puma spat at him.

     "He's right!" Wolf said with a snort not bothering to look. "It's the dragons, Ryuu's sensing. Puma just made him step on a twig."

     "Knock it off!" Ryuu said, aiming a swat at Puma. "We _want_ them to follow us! One way or another, word will get back to our target that we've left the area to hunt her someplace where she's _not_! That's the _only_ thing that will make her relax her guard!"

 

     Tuck eased out from behind the tree as the four riders continued on their way.

     _What made them spot me?_ he wondered. His gold queen, Snap, landed on his shoulder and gave a questioning chirp.

     "Ryuu!" he spat. "He's sensing you somehow, dear love. I'm afraid you're going to have to stay with Sebell while I follow them." Snap crooned apologetically and rubbed her head on his cheek. "I'd love to have you with me, Snap. But unfortunately, you're a liability on this mission. I have to insist. Now you better go."

 

     Ryuu, riding with the others, heard the little queen go _between_.

     _Thanks a lot, Puma!_ he silently thought, careful to keep himself from sending. He _did_ want to choke her, however.

     _Wolf,_ he privately sent this time, _you're on your own to track him. We just lost his native companion._

     _Understood,_ Wolf replied.

 

Fort Weyr:

     "I heard their cries," the young girl explained. "This one, especially, was hurt bad. But now he's better."

     _The nice man helped me,_ Sudeth spoke up. _Helped_ him _! Oh! Now my belly hurts! It stings so much! Please! I don't want K'lid to worry!_

     "We've got the numbweed, Sudeth!" Brekke said to him.

     "So, who are you?" Brekke asked the girl when she opened the lid to a nearby jar and began to work the medicine into the stitched wound. Sherri jumped in to help, copying what the healer woman was doing.

     "My name's Lisa," she replied, watching them closely for any sign of being in league with Ryuu. "I'm a candidate from Fort." Sherri, mindful that she might be the person they've been searching for, carefully averted her gaze as she followed the conversation. She diligently worked the pungent ointment into the dragon's injuries.

     "And how do you feel about the prospect of their injuries?" Brekke asked. "You can hear them speak?"

     "Yes," Lisa responded. "I can hear them."

     "So you know it's worse for us when we can hear them," Brekke said. "So how does this future look to you? Being here, watching them suffer?"

     "I could always hear them," Lisa said, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know if it's any better for those who can't. But you can hear them, too. You're Brekke. Everyone knows you rode Wirenth. And you're still here after she went _between_."

     Brekke stopped what she was doing to rein in her feelings of loss.

     "Yes," she slowly said. "And it has been much worse to hear them hurt since I lost her. This could be your future, Lisa. Do you want it?"

     "I'll do what I need," Lisa finally said. Evidently, that was the right thing to say as Brekke smiled and resumed her attentions to the dragon.

     As Sherri helped Brekke spread the salve, Sudeth began to relax. But then his eyes started to whirl as Lisa felt the beast's sad emotional emanations.

     "What's wrong, Sudeth?" Lisa asked, noticing the dragon's mood.

     _I forgot to thank the kind man,_ the dragon said.

     "Who?" Brekke asked, cleaning off her hands as she finished.

     _The kind man who came to help K'lid and me,_ the dragon told her. _I think he was the same one who helped us during Fall._

     "What's he talking about?" Sherri asked, perplexed.

     "Dragon's memories are notoriously short," Brekke explained. "Unless it's a very significant event, most things are quickly forgotten. It's something of a mercy given what we ask of them every time there's Fall."

     _I remember!_ Sudeth protested, laying his head down. _I remember Fall! It was a bad Fall! There were lots getting hurt! I remember Mnementh and the others came to help. I remember they fought well. Then the sky started to flash. We didn't know what was causing that. That's when I got hurt very bad. K'lid told me to come directly here. People here worked to help me, but something was wrong. I hurt where I shouldn't and it spread._

     _But I could hear the others still fighting,_ he continued. _It suddenly stopped and I heard Lioth call an end to Fall. Then I heard someone say 'Merry Christmas'. I didn't know what that was. My hurt wasn't getting any better. Then someone came and I saw a flash of light that made K'lid sleep. The man did something to my throat and I suddenly felt better. But I forgot to thank him,_ the dragon sadly finished.

     "What do you make of that?" Sherri asked, gulping nervously. She had to play along as if she didn't know what the creature was talking about. The dragon accurately described some of what happened with the crew and the _Panthro_ destroying the ovoids before they entered the atmosphere.

     "He's fallen asleep," Brekke said, gently caressing the bronze's eye ridges. "Probably just confusion setting in before he begins to forget. Their minds can create such fantastic images as the memories fade."

     Lisa, on the other hand, was only more confused. She knew this dragon couldn't have healed on his own. She had heard that sort of hurt for thousands of Turns and no dragon with that kind of poisoning _ever_ recovered. That could only mean the person searching for her had come here and helped the creature.

     _Could it be that we're wrong about him wanting to hurt me?_ she wondered. _If he came to help one single dragon and slipped away before anyone found out, was he truly so bad?_

 

     _Mike!_

     Mike looked up to see F'ress in his human form approaching. He quickly distanced himself from the activity surrounding K'lid to meet him.

     "What are you doing here?" he asked.

     "We just prrocessed the images you rrecorrded when the prroximity alarrm indicated you werre close to ourr goal," he replied, handing Mike a stack of papers. Mike quickly glanced at them and saw there were sixteen pictures of girls in the cafeteria last night. _Panthro_ had produced the photos with simulated distortion as might come from hand drawing.

     "Good!" he said. "These will be useful! Thanks!"

     "I've got to leave, so as not get herr attention," F'ress said, quickly departing. "Good hunting!"

     Mike watched him leave with some amusement. _So, it's not true that Caitians intentionally only use words with R's in them,_ he thought. _I'll have to tell Ryuu._

     He glanced about the mess hall and noted one frightened looking woman sitting alone, nibbling on a bread roll. Quickly flipping though the sheets, he confirmed that she looked like one of the images.

     _Ryuu said we should be careful of approaching her, but I should at least find out her name,_ he thought to himself. Mike went over to the buffet tables and poured a couple of cups of wine and got some food for himself.

     "Hi," he said when he arrived at her table. The girl started then stared at him as he set a cup in front of her.

     "No need to be frightened," he said warmly. "I won't bite. I just thought you might want something to wash that down with," he gestured with his cup to her roll.

     A gold head on a thin long neck poked its head over the table from her lap. Its sudden appearance and hiss startled Mike that he spilled some of the wine when he jumped.

     _Go away!_ it scolded at him with red whirling eyes. _You scare her!_

     "Sorry!" he quickly said. "I--I--just thought she might like a friendly voice." The speed of the fire-lizard's orbs slowed but stayed red and orange.

     _Everyone mean to us!_ it piteously cried. _We hurt!_

     "I'm not mean," Mike gently said. But the woman didn't do anything but stare at him with frightened eyes.  
     "Hey! FORT!" one of the dragonriders attending K'lid yelled, waving at Mike to get his attention. "Come over here!" The girl's fire-lizard reacted to the call by hissing at the man and ducking back down below the table.

     "Excuse me," Mike said, getting up. The woman just watched him leave, and absently resumed nibbling at her roll.

     "Yes, sir?" Mike asked when he arrived with the group.

     "Stay away from her!" the man said with evident displeasure on his face. The others, including F'nor had equally unhappy expressions on their faces.

     "I'm sorry," Mike apologized. "Who is she?"

     "No one you need concern yourself about," the Fort rider said as the group assisted the revitalized K'lid to his feet, leading the bronze rider back to Sudeth.

 

On the road to Ruatha:

     Several hours later, N'ton became very concerned as Ryuu and his people crossed the river and the border into Ruatha. Ostensibly, they were on their way to Telgar, but the route they took would bring them right to Ruatha's doorstep and the possibility of them encountering Jaxom and Ruth.

     He directed Lioth to jump to the hold. Lytol was there to greet him by the time he landed.

     "How may I be of service, Fort?" the taciturn man asked. N'ton noted the twitch already starting to pull on the former dragonman's face.

     "I'm sorry to give you any problems, Lytol," N'ton said, quickly coming to the point. "Could you tell me where Jaxom and Ruth are?" So far, so good, he was thinking. Lioth told him Ruth wasn't there when they arrived overhead.

     "He's in the upland fields with Brand, overseeing some planting," Lytol said, trying to fathom what was so urgent. The relieved expression that flowed over N'ton's face made the Fort Weyrleader's request even more puzzling. "Should I send Deelan's fire-lizard to fetch him?" His own question instantly made N'ton tense again.

     "No! No!" N'ton quickly exclaimed. "That's okay!"

     _Evidently it's bad for Jaxom to be here right now,_ Lytol concluded.

     "Is there a problem?" Lytol finally asked. This wasn't like N'ton to be so tense.

     "Actually there is," the bronze rider said. "We're monitoring it, but it's best that Jaxom or Ruth not be involved as they pass by."

     "As who passes by?" Lytol asked. N'ton was actually amazed for a moment as the twitch on Lytol's face suddenly went away.

     "Oh, some beastriders on the road from Fort," the dragonman said, snapping out of his distraction. "We don't have anything but suspicions, mind you. But we are concerned about Jaxom's safety."

     "Care to tell me about it?" Lytol asked.

     "Sorry, there's no time," N'ton said, getting back up on his great bronze dragon. "They'll be here in a short while and I've got to get back up there to monitor their route."

     Once back in the air, N'ton directed Lioth to go _between_ again. Only this time, when they came out above Ryuu, Lioth had some disturbing news.

     _I only see Ryuu and Puma,_ the dragon said. _I don't see the others or their runners._

     "What?" N'ton screamed. He looked down over his dragon's neck, but he could only make out small dots on the thin beige line snaking across the green fields. He stared until Lioth looked questioningly back at him.

     _Of course I can't see them!_ he sheepishly chided himself. _It's the dragons that have good distance vision!_

     "Is Tuck still following?" N'ton asked.

     _Yes,_ Lioth replied. _But he's had to cut through the woods to keep up. After they crossed the river, he probably couldn't see them after the bend in the road._

     N'ton had to think quickly about this. He was puzzled why with their runners that Ryuu was taking such a leisurely pace slow enough for a man to follow on foot. Then, the one moment when he left to check on Jaxom, they pull one of their near famous, and quickly becoming legendary, disappearing acts!

     _And how, By The Egg, could they make their_ four runners _vanish, too?_

 

     "That should keep them guessing for a while," Ryuu said with a smirk. Behind and above them, he sensed the arrival of several dragons.

     "Aren't you going too far with those games?" Puma asked.

     "Trust me," Ryuu said, grinning.

     "I need you to convince me," she complained.

     "Puma..." he said with a warning growl.

     "Don't raise your voice to me!" Puma yelled.

     Ryuu heaved a heavy sigh.

     Why _did I have to go and ask_ THEM _to make me immortal?_ he wondered.

 

Fort Weyr:

     When Mike saw his chance to talk with Sherri alone, he was very excited.

     "I think I found her!" His excited whisper was almost loud enough for a normal conversation and Sherri winced in concern as she looked about. Fortunately, nobody was about.

     "Keep it down, Mike," she hissed at him. "What do you have?"

     He pulled out the stack of drawings and flipped to one of the pages and pointed.

     "We caught her image yesterday and this morning, when I was helping with K'lid, I saw her! I even got to speak with her!"

     " _MIKE!_ " Sherri hissed. "We're not supposed to be engaging her like that!"

     "Well, how are we supposed to gain her trust if we don't approach her?" Mike asked. Sherri had no answer, but looked more critically at the image of the woman.

     "Doesn't she seem a little old to you?" Sherri asked. She shuffled through the other sheets but didn't see anyone else familiar save for one, but she had her doubts about that woman as well.

     "Well, there are a lot of worry-lines," Mike admitted. "But why wouldn't she be worried if she's trying desperately to hide from us? Besides, we do age after staying in one form long enough."

     "But for her to have used the Gateway a couple of days ago to appear human, she should be restored to about mid-twenties," Sherri reminded him. She was hoping to see that girl that she and Brekke had met among the sketches. But Brekke was the only other person whom they met so far that was in the drawings shown getting up from finishing her breakfast.

 

Ruatha Hold:

     Late afternoon, they came in sight of the Hold proper. A frown came over Ryuu's face as he looked at the structures embedded in the cliff face.

     "Now what's wrong?" Puma asked, noticing his expression. Normally, at this point in their arguments, they would be giving each other the silent treatment. However, Puma noted his irritation was not directed at her.

     "He's not here," Ryuu muttered. This only further puzzled her.

     "Who?"

     " _Ah!_ " he suddenly exclaimed staring out at the empty space over the road. "He's coming!"

     "What?" Puma asked, astonished, looking about.

     There were several people leading their animals up and down the road, a few people walking in and out of the structures, and even a handful of youths practicing with their blades by the river.

     She finally glanced up to where Ryuu was staring and only just caught the white dragon arriving in real-space.

     "Ruth!" Ryuu happily replied.

     "Dragons!" she spat. " _Ba-ka i-ten-de-nai-you!_ "

     "Now what is your problem?" Ryuu asked.

     " _Su-ke-be...!_ " she began.

     " _Hey!_ I would never, _ever_ , do that with Ruth!" he vehemently protested cutting her off. She looked at him as if he was the Worst-Compulsive-Liar-Ever-Born pathetically still trying to convince people he was telling the truth.

     "Ruth's a _male_ dragon," Ryuu smugly told her. "We're just friends." She nearly dropped her jaw as he walked past her to head for the dragon's landing area.

 

     "That field should produce a good yield this season," Jaxom said to Brand as he and the Warder dismounted.

     "His fields always had in the past. We'll go over the records this evening, Lord Jaxom. And good day to you, Ruth. Thank you for the lift," he said in parting.

     Ruth dipped his muzzle to Jaxom's side and his rider gave him an affectionate hug.

     _You are not happy?_ Ruth asked, noting the tenseness in his rider.

     Jaxom was not. He wanted to give his dragon a proper scrubbing at the river and had directed Ruth to land on the bank. But he hadn't counted on Dorse, his milk-brother, and the others he socialized with to be there. Sheathing their blades, they were approaching to entertain themselves in other ways at Jaxom's expense.

     "Lord Jaxom! Hi, Ruth!" someone behind him cheerfully called out. Startled, Jaxom turned to see Ryuu approaching from the road. The man had what appeared to be a genuine smile as he walked, while the woman following looked positively annoyed. However, Jaxom wasn't sure about these people's motives since F'lar, Lessa, and N'ton had stopped by the other day to warn the Lord Holder to be careful about them.

     While they didn't come out and confront him with having been at the Southern Continent, Jaxom couldn't help but worry if Robinton had indeed told them about that. Evidently, Robinton _had_ told them of Ryuu, and what the MasterHarper learned greatly concerned the craft leader. But Jaxom himself had not been provided what the dragonriders had been told. Seeing Ryuu walking toward him, he thought it might be nice to be informed where it concerned his or Ruth's hide!

     "Oh! What a beauty!" Ryuu said, staring at the white dragon in awe. "He really takes your breath away just looking at him."

     "Yes! For an overgrown fire-lizard, that's truly impressive!" Dorse said, arriving from the other side.

     The smile left Ryuu's face, and Jaxom suddenly felt the hackles on the back of his neck rise from danger as Ryuu gave a very sharp look at Dorse and his friends. Evidently, Dorse and the others must've seen it too, for they tensed up as well.

     "Excuse you?" Ryuu slowly asked, turning to the five young men. He veered from his route to Ruth to walk to them.

     "Ryuu! No!" Puma called out. But she suddenly winced at the same instant Ruth let out a whine and several fire-lizards that had congregated about Ruth screamed out in alarm. Ryuu continued to walk toward Dorse before finally stopping within arm's reach.

     "Interesting. I take it from the tone of your remark you don't think highly of this lovely creature or these noble natives," Ryuu calmly said, tilting his head up at Dorse.

     "'Lovely creature'?" Dorse asked, incredulously. "This sport? He's not even a _real_ dragon! He's barely larger than a runner."

     With Ryuu not much taller than Jaxom, Dorse had the advantage of half-a-head and much broader build. And Dorse's four friends were likewise large sized.

     "I remember seeing you at the festival, but I don't believe we met," Ryuu said with his pleasant smile returning and held out his hand to shake.

     "Lord Dorse," he said, taking Ryuu's hand and deliberately squeezing.

     "' _Lord_ ' Dorse?" Ryuu asked, tilting his head. He looked questioningly back at Jaxom, then back at Dorse. Jaxom was amazed that Ryuu acted as if he didn't notice his hand getting crushed in Dorse's grip.

     "I'm not Lord Holder, of course," Dorse said, with a bit of stammer starting to creep in his voice. It also unnerved him a little that Ryuu seemingly hadn't noticed the torture.

     "Ah! I see," Ryuu nodded in understanding. "Ryuu. Just-- _plain_ \--Ryuu," he emphasized. Instantly Dorse sneered and released his grip, but Ryuu held on, not letting go.

     "Is that the tightest you can grip?" Ryuu asked with the same pleasant tone, still smiling, still tilting his head up to the young man.

     Startled, Dorse glanced at his buddies then at Jaxom before looking back at Ryuu. The sneer on his face doubled.

     "No, of course not," Dorse said, applying a likewise doubled pressure as he did before.

     "Yes, well as I was saying," Ryuu began, apparently still not noticing the crushing grip to glance back at Ruth. "I find it interesting that you would compare such a lovely creature to fire-lizards, which obviously the larger dragons were bred from. But that you could somehow--" he continued, turning back to Dorse, "--incredibly--turn such a really lovely and beautiful comparison into some sort of insult. That's really amazing! You must have some gifted talent. Such ability isn't something that can be learned."

     By this time, Dorse was definitely feeling something was wrong. Couldn't this Ryuu--this "Just 'Plain' Ryuu" feel his hand being crushed in a vice-like grip? Or his fingers growing cold?

     Dorse was slowly losing the strength in his grip as his uncertainty began to crystallize into fear. Ryuu, on the other hand, was enjoying this. Pain, he knew, was as much fear as it was physical discomfort. And since he had no fear of these thugs, the crush on his hand was bearable.

     By this time, Ryuu decided it was Dorse's turn to play victim and shifted his ring finger to find an acupuncture spot on the back of Dorse's hand.

     " _This_ , on the other hand, _is_ something that can only be learned," Ryuu finished. Suddenly, Dorse's face registered his pain, shock and horror as it felt like his whole arm, from the elbow down, was inexorably being ground to a pulp. His fear of the man grew wildly, enormously increasing the effect of the actual discomfort.

     "And while you're learning this lesson, here's another to keep in mind," Ryuu quietly whispered into Dorse's ear as the youth bent over in pain. "I like dragons. I like these natives you call fire-lizards. And I especially like _Ruth_! And I _don't_ like people who _don't_!"

     Dorse gasped as Ryuu released him and quickly worked the feeling back into his arm. But not being too terribly bright, and seeing how his friends had drawn their blades already, Dorse reached for his, both before his hand was ready to grab for it and before he thought of the consequences of such a rash move. Only, to his further surprise, his knife wasn't in the sheath. Its point was nestled under his chin, held by the hand that he had just squeezed.

     Nervously gulping, Dorse looked at Ryuu, who was no longer smiling, but glaring at him with a cold hard look.

     "And I don't need this k'nif'fe to bury you and your buddies here and now," Ryuu growled. He raised his other hand and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the air was filled with fire-lizards.

     Ruth whistled in amazement, looking about at all the little ones that showed up at Ryuu's request. He was the only other being he knew that could do that.

     "By the way, I don't need these guys to do it either," Ryuu growled. "I called them here for their benefit. I just want them entertained as I knock the five of you silly."

 

     N'ton was literally shaking in fear as he and F'lar talked with Robinton's man.

     "Two people and four runners--gone! Just like that!" Tuck said snapping his fingers. "But no tracks to show where they went! And there was that strange noise for a few moments that sounded like fire-lizards humming for a hatching."

     The Benden Weyrleader glanced up to watch the other twelve dragons from Fort and Benden futilely searching for traces of Ryuu's people. Then a thought suddenly occurred to F'lar.

     "Uh--who's keeping an eye on _Ryuu and Puma_?" he asked. He saw N'ton and Tuck's eyes both grow wide.

     Instantly, both dragonriders ran for their dragons with Tuck following N'ton. As they rose up and got their coordinates, however, N'ton's brown Tris and the harper's gold suddenly screamed and went _between_ before the dragons did.

     They came out over Ruatha and their worst fears were confirmed. Ryuu was there, apparently threatening someone with a knife. But it was puzzling that it wasn't Jaxom he was confronting, as the Lord Holder was standing nearby with his dragon.

 

     "Speaking of fire-lizards," Ryuu snorted derisively. He glanced up at Dorse again, the dangerous coldness returning to his face while Ruth bellowed a greeting behind him.

     "And I don't need _them_ to fight my battles, either," Ryuu continued speaking to the youth. "So I want you to take this k'nif'fe and your friends and show me just what the five of you can do against one unarmed man." Ryuu pulled the knife from Dorse's throat and threw the blade so it buried point first into the dirt.

     Later, after being admonished for the incident, Jaxom would fondly recall the look on Dorse's ashen face as he realized the blade had gone through his shoe on its way to penetrating the ground. His milk-brother slowly emitted a high-pitched whine that quickly grew into a scream as he turned and ran--limping--away and tailed by his four friends. The blade was still stuck in the dirt. After that moment, things were pretty chaotic.

     F'lar and N'ton, accompanied by someone Jaxom had never seen before, jumped from their dragons that had quickly landed and ran toward Ryuu. Lytol, Brand, and several others rushed down from the Hold as well. For his part, Ryuu was as unflustered by the attention. He reminded Jaxom of Piemur or F'lessan. That was until a gold fire-lizard, Jaxom figured belonged to the man N'ton brought, nosed at the knife still stuck in the ground.

     "No--WHAT?" Ryuu suddenly screamed forgetting the Weyrleaders. "No Blood? What do you mean 'no blood'?" He yanked the knife from the ground to look closely at it. F'lar and N'ton both pulled out their blades and ordered him to drop it, but Ryuu was evidently too angry to listen.

     "I missed?" he asked, astonished. Angrily, and before anyone could react, Ryuu threw the knife over the river where it stuck in a tree trunk. "I _NEVER_ miss!" he screamed. "What's up with that?" he demanded, glaring at Jaxom.

     "Wh-wh-what do you mean?" Jaxom asked, as shocked as everyone else by Ryuu's action. Had he intended the Lord Holder harm, everyone knew there would've been no stopping the man. No one seemed more astonished than the man N'ton had brought as he stood there with his own knife to throw at Ryuu. And Jaxom was left wondering, _Where did_ that _throwing knife come from?_

     "Snap says I missed his toes!" Ryuu yelled at Jaxom. "I was aiming for between them, but I should've at least sliced some skin. But she says it was a _clean miss!_ "

     "Well, Dorse does have small feet for his size," Jaxom spontaneously said. "He's always worn shoes a few sizes too big."

     Jaxom would also remember the shocked look on Ryuu's face for a long time. It was almost comical, and Jaxom would've probably laughed if it weren't so dangerous a moment as Ryuu stood there blinking at him. Evidently, Puma thought it was funny, too, and she did burst out laughing at him.

     "Fine," Ryuu suddenly said after several moments of thinking about it. "Fine! He wants to play like that? I'll fix him!"

     He turned and walked away, heading for the road. "Next time, I put the knife through his ankle," they heard him mutter. "He won't fool me again, because I'll stick the God Damned knife in his kneecap. I'll make damned _sure_ he loses that whole fucking leg!" He kept speaking as he kept walking away, but the words got lost in the distance.

     Puma smiled apologetically to everyone as she quietly followed.

     "Lord F'lar? N'ton?" Lytol asked, gesturing to the departing pair.

     "Lord Jaxom? Are you okay?" F'lar asked.

     "Shouldn't we stop them?" N'ton asked him.

     "If Dorse wants to complain, let him say so," Jaxom suggested. "Otherwise, should we interfere?"

     "Jaxom!" Lytol yelled at the young Lord Holder.

 

     "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Puma hissed when she caught up with Ryuu. "Picking fights with the locals? You could've killed that kid!"

     "You're joking, of course," Ryuu replied. "If I wanted to kill him, he'd be dead."

     "You are not going to just walk away like this!" Puma growled. "You are going to apologize and be quick about it!"

     Ryuu looked at her for several moments as he considered her demand. He glanced back at the people gathered about Jaxom, but it was when he looked at Ruth that Ryuu decided the issue.

     "You're right," he flatly responded, turning to walk back to the dragonriders, leaving Puma dumbfounded. Her winning an argument so quickly, while rare, many times indicated something was not going to go the way she wished.

     "Waitaminute!" she yelled rushing to grab his arm and stop him. " _Chou-tou ma-te!_ What are you going to do?" she demanded.

     "I'm going to apologize," Ryuu explained.

     "Just what are you planning to say to them?"

     "Look, do you want me to apologize, or--?" Ryuu asked.

     "Yes!"

     "Well, then let m--" he began.

     "But you can't just go up and say 'I'm sorry'!" she interrupted. "You have to prepare--"

     "If you happen to notice--" Ryuu cut in.

     "Hey!" she yelled. "You always complain about me interrupting! Now you're doing it!"

     "--they are watching us!" Ryuu finished, raising his voice to match her.

     "AND DON'T YELL AT ME!" Puma screamed.

     Ryuu tapped his toe in his boot several times to forcing himself to calm before opening his mouth.

     "List--" he began.

     "I don't like it when you accuse me of interrupting you and then you do the same thing!" she yelled.

     He tapped his toe several more times.

     "Puma--" he tried again.

     "And I don't like it when you raise your voice at me!" she continued to yell.

     He winced and motioned with his hand to lower the volume.

     "AND I DON'T LIKE YOU MAKING FACES AT ME!" she screamed.

     He rolled his eyes. Then he glanced over at the white dragon.

     _Ruth, I'm sorry if this is going to hurt,_ he sent to the creature. The dragon cocked his head at Ryuu.

     _PUMA!_ he sent as loud as he could while she was yelling something else. She stopped with a shocked look on her face as Ruth and the other dragons bugled in protest.

     "Shut up!" Ryuu whispered to her before walking away.

     "Lord F'lar," Ryuu greeted with a solemn bow to him, N'ton, and Tuck when they blocked his approach to Jaxom. "Lord--" Ryuu looked at a loss for words as he addressed N'ton. "N'ton," he finally said nodding his head, but the dragonrider glanced back at Lioth. "And masterharper," Ryuu finished, this time with a gleam in his eye.

     "I do apologize for the inconvenience and trouble I caused you and the Lord _Holder_ of Ruatha," Ryuu explained, not-so-subtly stressing Jaxom's title, "by challenging Lord Dorse for his remarks about Ruth. I'm offering myself to your judgments of my behavior."

     Not believing their good fortune, F'lar, N'ton, and even Tuck were at a momentary loss for words.

     "Perhaps it should be Dorse who decides what should be done," Jaxom spoke up, surprising them, "if he is offended."

     "Jaxom!" Lytol yelled again, even as Ryuu smiled.

     "The young Lord Holder is evidently wise beyond his years," Ryuu said oily. "After all, I was merely defending the _honor_ of a _dragon_. I'm sure that holding someone accountable for such a 'crime' might be--distasteful--to a dragonrider?"

     "Ryuu!" Puma exclaimed, only now realizing too late what he intended.

     "Puma," Ryuu responded with a warning growl.

     "Lord Jaxom," Lytol quietly said, pulling him aside. "I don't think you are aware of the seriousness of this situation. I met N'ton earlier today and he told me this man might have designs to harm you."

     "I know he's a bit odd," Jaxom replied. "And I haven't forgotten what F'lar and Lessa said the other day. But neither have I forgotten how he risked his skin to help Fort's watch-whers or how he seems fascinated by Ruth. I thought he might be dangerous when we first met, but Ruth seems to trust him."

     Ruth blinked and looked toward Lioth and Mnementh.

     _What should we do?_ he asked them. _He has seen what is_ between _!_

     _He showed me something he calls the Gateway,_ the larger bronze said. _It is advisable that we do not speak of this._ Nothing _is_ between _!_

     Nothing _is_ between _!_ Lioth and Ruth both agreed.

     The white dragon looked back at the people surrounding Ryuu and the man took a moment to wink at Ruth before continuing his discussion with F'lar.

     "Lord--Lytol, is it?" Ryuu asked, when Ruth supplied his name. He also noticed the appearance of the scars on the man's face looked the world like a torch or beam weapon had grazed him sometime in the past. "Rest assured I have no ill intentions towards Lord Jaxom or Ruth. Indeed, I find this dragon to be very special."

     "In what way, exactly?" F'lar asked, pouncing on the opportunity.

     Tuck's gold lit from his shoulders to land on Ryuu's, startling both harper and dragonrider.

     "I assume you are aware these little ones are very perceptive creatures," Ryuu said, caressing the queen with his finger down her neck. "They hold Ruth with a reverence they don't even give his sire or dam. Yet, they look at him as something extremely valuable. I have my reasons to trust their judgment in such matters," he said as he stared into her rainbow flashing eyes. "And so, I have my reasons to feel the same about the white as something valuable, too. And since Lord Jaxom is needed for Ruth's continued survival," he added, glaring at the others, "I will not let anything threaten him, either. Or insult the dragon."

     Brand sent a couple of guards who brought a still white-faced Dorse out along with his friends. The limp was gone, but the youth's knees were shaking.

     They explained the situation to Dorse and he seemed to regain his normal demeanor, seeing as how there were dragonriders there to protect him from the dangerous man.

     "I've been instructed to offer my apology," Ryuu said, glaring at Dorse. "But before I do, I would like for you to apologize to Ruth and his rider."

     "You are far exceeding your station, 'Just-Plain-Ryuu'," Dorse said, sneering. "I'd rather flog you myself!"

     "Oooh!" Ryuu suddenly exclaimed with his face lighting up. "Are you challenging me to a duel?"

     "Wha--?" Dorse stammered.

     "Splendid! I accept!" Ryuu exclaimed, rubbing his hands. The only person not shocked speechless or looking about in confusion was Puma, who covered her eyes and shook her head.

     "WAIT!" Dorse exclaimed. "I PROTEST!"

     "What?" Ryuu demanded. "You offered challenge! I accepted! Are you a man without _honor_? Are you a _coward_? A spineless twit? A weasel? A--"

     _Tunnel-snake?_ a fire-lizard offered.

     "A tunnel-snake?" Ryuu asked grinning at the blue creature.

     The expertly delivered words stung Dorse's pride and before anyone, even Dorse, knew it, he was agreeing to the duel. But evidently, the young man wasn't a complete fool.

     "Very well, if it's a duel you want, then a duel you'll get!" Dorse yelled. "But I'm not a fighter! I demand my right for a champion. N'ton? F'lar? Will one of you champion me?" This time, the dragonriders looked up in panic. Even Puma was startled, while Ryuu regarded Dorse with some small amount of admiration.

     _Very slick, kid!_ he thought grinning.

     "Well, if you are going to demand a champion," Ryuu drawled, "I suppose that is within your rights. But seeing as how they would be at a disadvantage for having to defend the honor of a man who insults dragons--that would be very unfair for you to demand that from them. The same would be for Lord Jaxom," Ryuu quickly added before Dorse could say anything, "especially as it was _his_ dragon you insulted."

     "Don't even think it, Dorse!" Lytol said, glaring at him when the lad looked to him.

     "What about _him_?" Dorse suddenly asked, pointing at Tuck. Ryuu looked appraisingly at the harper who stiffened at the prospect of fighting Ryuu.

     "Hmm," Ryuu said, considering. "Interesting challenge. Before I accept those conditions, however, I do have one question. If I lose, I die, of course. But if I won, what about you, Lord Dorse? Your champion would be dead, but what of _your_ honor? What are you required to lose?" Snap cheeped in alarm at what Ryuu said.

     "Someone whose champion is defeated may be punished up to, but not exceeding turned out from his hold," Lytol solemnly replied. "But Dorse hasn't yet reached maturity. Duels with minors are not supposed to be to the death, Ryuu!"

     "This one will be," Ryuu growled. "It's _his_ challenge. Honor is something that a person should hold above his own life! A man without honor is no man!"

     Lytol's statement allowed some color to return to Dorse's face, but Ryuu's reply drove it away again.

     "It's unacceptable!" Ryuu finally announced. "The harper has a fire-lizard, which Dorse implied insult to them all as well as to Ruth. I will not harm the creatures," he said looking to the gold queen on his shoulder.

     "But I offer an alternative," Ryuu said taking a step toward Dorse. "I'll fight you. But I'll be without any blades. You want to use a knife? Go right ahead. Bring some friends if you want. These guards with their bow and arrows," he gestured, "can ensure I don't pick up any dropped knife. If I do, they'll turn me into a porcupine. That way, you have a 'sporting' chance," he finished, grinning evilly.

     "Ryuu! Don't do this!" Puma shouted. "You can't! Please!"

     Dorse seriously considered it. The last time, they had their blades sheathed and Ryuu had hurt him while standing an arm's length away. Even though it was a surprise strike, he was about to reject it as being too risky. But it was Puma's panicked cry that convinced him to try. Evidently, she doubted Ryuu's ability and feared for him.

     "All right then!" Dorse said, suddenly grinning. "You with no knife. Me and my friends with ours. And the guards ready to shoot if you pick one up?"

     "That's right!" Ryuu agreed.

     "I accept!"

     "Ryuu's going to slaughter them!" Puma cried out, throwing her hands up. Everyone but Ryuu stared at her in amazement while he grinned at the suddenly ashen Dorse.

 

     They lined up, five-to-one on the near side of the river with a half-circle of Ruathan men-at-arms surrounding them. Jaxom stood by the outer gate to the hold along with F'lar, N'ton, Lytol, and Tuck. The dragons lined the heights to watch. Tuck kept his eye on Puma the whole time. Ryuu or no-Ryuu, he knew from Sebell's report that this woman might be just as dangerous as the man was. And it still concerned him that there hadn't been any sign of Wolf or Arye since they crossed the river. _They_ could be anywhere, ready to launch an attack on the Lord Holder at any time during this spectacle.

     His eye caught movement overhead occasionally as another dragon swept by still looking for them.

 

     Ryuu noted that Dorse put himself in the center and to the rear of the other four.

     _Typical coward's position,_ he spat.

     They all had their blades ready, with one, to the center-right, actually having two blades. _This one is a bit smarter,_ he considered, _and the greatest danger._

     "Everyone ready?" Brand called out, just outside the encircling guard.

     Dorse gripped his blade like he had Ryuu's hand earlier and his whole body tensed, planted solidly on his feet. The others tested the balance of their blades and shifted to a fighting stance, putting their weight on the balls of their feet.

     Ryuu tossed Brand an easy salute and forced his body to go slack. Then suddenly, he made the first move, rushing the one on the far left.

     The unexpected move forced Ryuu's first opponent to drop back a step and swipe his blade across Ryuu's center of mass when he got in range. Ryuu, however, had dropped beneath the blade. As the knife flashed over him, he grabbed the man's wrist even as he delivered a vicious kick to the man's forward knee. Then he reversed his momentum, back-pedaling and pulling the young man to lay him out flat. Before the man started screaming from pain, Ryuu had switched to rush forward again, this time stopping to stand on his prone opponent's shoulders, expertly balancing on the squirming figure.

     Surprised by the quickness by which his partner had fallen, the next guy in line rushed Ryuu. Ryuu waited for him to get in range then stepped off the prone man. As he did, he caught his toe beneath the down man's ribs and kicked out, rolling him into the second man's feet, and the second was sprawled on the ground.

     Not giving them time to recover, Ryuu stomped on the second man's knife hand and stomped on the hand that instantly grabbed the injury. For added measure, as he advanced on the rest, he gave a stomp to the first guy's knife hand.

 

     "Shells!" Jaxom exclaimed. His yell made Tuck glance up from where he had been keeping watch on Puma, who sat on the flagstone to watch the fight with a bored expression. And he couldn't believe his eyes. In less than two breaths, Ryuu had disabled two of his opponents and was already menacing the other three!

 

     Dorse quickly shifted his position to the right, bringing his other friends between them. The look of panic on his face told Ryuu that he had no worries from him so long as the remaining opponents stood.

     Ryuu warily approached the one with the two blades. The youngster was a bit unnerved by the quickness and ease with which Ryuu had dispatched the others and how the lone man didn't so much as glance at the dropped blades. He tested the weight and balance of his knives once more then rushed to take on the older man.

     His inexperienced moves afforded Ryuu the means by which to eliminate his threat. A snap kick to his right hand sent that blade flying away while Ryuu grabbed the other arm with both hands and pulled, yanking his opponent off balance. Ryuu used his left hand to put pressure to acupuncture points in the back of his hand while his right hand focused on a spot in his elbow. It was the same method he had used on Dorse earlier and the results were the same here. Then as the young man screamed in pain and dropped the blade, Ryuu drove his elbow into his face.

     Leaping away from the falling opponent, Ryuu spun about to face his remaining foe. He needn't have bothered. The last of Dorse's friends was staring flat-footed in shock. And Dorse was quickly starting to whine in fear as the last of his remaining defenses shook himself out of his stunned reaction.

 

     _He's just playing with them!_ Tuck thought with furrowed brows.

 

     The last kid went back to a fighting stance when Ryuu motioned him to come on. Dorse's friend now also did something unexpected. He began tossing his knife from one hand to the other and back. Impressed, Ryuu actually smiled and saluted him.

     "Fardles!" the kid whispered to himself, so much unnerved he nearly dropped the blade during one toss. But he grimly determined that he was going to injure Ryuu.

     Ryuu slowly approached, crouching into a fighting stance as he closed, timing the tosses. He sidled first one way, then the other, to keep Dorse from getting a chance to slip in behind him, slowly closing and letting the last man develop a rhythm to his switching hands. Unknown to his last opponent, Ryuu intentionally wove his motions to blend with his opponent, eventually hypnotizing the young man as he watched Ryuu. He hadn't noticed Ryuu had slowly closed to striking range until a snap kick knocked the blade out of play in the middle of a toss. Ryuu tilted his body and used the same foot to strike him in the solar plexus.

     Since Ryuu knew cornered animals were the most dangerous because they're so unpredictable, he was cautious in his advance on Dorse. But to his surprise, Dorse dropped the knife and fell to his knees, covering his face. Ryuu relaxed, shaking his head in disgust.

     _Show's over, folks,_ he sent to the dragons. _Ruth, could you come down here, please? Thank you._

     Ryuu reached down and hauled the trembling Dorse to his feet.

     "You want to keep that pretty face?" Ryuu growled into his ear. "Then you go and apologize to Ruth and you kiss him like you mean it! Otherwise, I keep whacking on you!" He gave Dorse a shove toward where the white dragon had landed and followed close behind.

     When he reached the last person he fought, he grabbed the young man under his arms and helped bring him to his feet.

     "Stand up straight, kid," he said to the youngster who was still having problems breathing. "I know it hurts, but you'll be alright. Just stretch your arms over your head and walk it off."

     "You better get your healers to see to those two," Ryuu shouted at the guards coming to help the other downed young men. "They've probably got broken bones in their arms. Get moving, Dorse!" he added, giving him another push.

     Jaxom and the others had joined Ruth when Dorse, Ryuu, and the young man he was helping to recover arrived.

     "I don't know what kind of power you got over Lord _Holder_ Jaxom, Dorse," Ryuu said stressing the title. "But that power doesn't extend to me! You treat this dragon with the respect he deserves, or God help you, I'll be back and finish this! You don't so much as whisper an insult under your breath or I'll hear about it! You understand me, _Lord_ Dorse?" Ryuu demanded.

     "Yes, sir," he meekly replied.

     "Then get busy," Ryuu said. "There's Ruth! We haven't got all day."

     "I-I'm s-sorry, Ruth!" Dorse stammered in his apology. The words stuck in his throat like sea greens. "I promise I w-won't c-c-call you an overgrown fire-lizard. Y-you're a real dr-dragon. You're not a r-runt. You're not a sp-sport dra-dragon."

     "Now give him a kiss," Ryuu ordered.

     _Does he have to?_ Ruth asked in consternation. Ryuu winked at the dragon even as Jaxom worked to suppress a sudden coughing fit.

     "Yes, he does," Ryuu said.

     Ruth dipped his head to receive it as Dorse reached out to his snout. Both of them had expressions of disgust on their faces.

     "Uh-uh!" Ryuu said, reaching out to stop him. "Not there." Dorse and Ruth both looked at him in confusion.

 

Ista Weyr:

     _This is much better!_ Stealth announced spraying water from his nostrils after the rinsing. _Hey! I'm floating!_ he realized when his feet slipped from their hold on the sands on the bottom of the pool. _Can I join the others swimming?_

     "Sure," T'khill said, stiffly grinning. "You can use your wings to get over there faster."

     _Fly?_ Stealth asked. _It seems like too much effort to go such a short distance._

     "No," T'khill said. "Swim over there, using your wings." The bronze dragon considered that for several moments as he bobbed on the water.

     _No one else is using their wings,_ the hatchling pointed out.

     "It's not much different from flying," T'khill said. "And you'll be doing that soon enough. But the exercise will give you a chance to learn to coordinate your motions. Just make sure you hold your breath when underwater!"

     K'der soon came over as T'khill and Maleer were finishing cleaning up the bathing supplies he used on Stealth.

     "T'khill, what is your dragon doing?" he asked.

     "He's swimming," T'khill responded after a moment. It puzzled him that humans could sometimes not understand the obvious.

     "But he's using his wings," K'der pointed out. "I've never seen a dragon do that before."

     "Well, it just seems reasonable that since both water and air are fluids, what works in one should work in the other," T'khill explained.

     "Oh. I see," K'der said, walking off to think about it. Evidently some of the other dragonlings saw, too, as a green hesitantly began to imitate Stealth's swimming method.

     "That was verry insightful!" Maleer said after the dragonrider got out of earshot. "I didn't think yourr people used yourr wings when swimming. I always thought featherrs and waterr werre a bad mix."

     "Actually, that was something that Ryuu once told me," T'khill quietly admitted. "But it might not be wise to mention that to Stealth."

     Maleer's purring laughter echoed across the water as the dragons continued to play.

 

Ruatha Hold:

     _Jaxom, I_ really _feel filthy, now!_ Ruth said, sniffing in disgust at the fork in his tail. _Can I get a bath?_

     "Sure, Ruth," Jaxom snorted, having a hard time suppressing his mirth, even as he knew Lytol wasn't going to let him get away with it. Everyone else had reacted in shocked horror at what Ryuu had instructed Dorse to do. But no one objected, either, although all the fire-lizards screeched in alarm and held the ends of their tails in their arms and close to their chests.

     "Don't worry, Ruth," Ryuu said, giving the dragon's shoulders a fond pat. "I'm sure Dorse got the worst end of the deal."

     _Don't be so sure about that,_ Ruth muttered and even Ryuu had to deal with a sudden choking fit.

     "So are we finished now?" Puma demanded with her arms crossed.

     "Almost," he said, looking pointedly at the young man he still held.

     "Am I to do that, too?" he fearfully asked. Ryuu gave him a long considered look before answering.

     "Well, I'll leave that up to Lord Jaxom," he finally said. "At the very least, you do owe Ruth and Lord Jaxom an apology.

     "Personally, I feel you and the others I fought were a bit more honorable than Lord Dorse," he went on. "You might want to consider who you choose as friends and give your allegiance to in the future. Dorse had a five-to-one advantage over me and he squandered it to let you four suffer for his lack of honor. I strongly suggest you remember this, next time. And make sure to remind your buddies they owe them apologies, or I might find some reason other than Ruth's company to stop by here again."

     "Yes, sir," he meekly said, bowing his head. Ryuu released him to stand before Jaxom and Ruth. Puma came up beside him.

     "So just what is it you find so fascinating about him?" she quietly asked.

     "Why don't you touch him and find out?" Ryuu asked.

     " _Ki-ta-nai--!_ " she spat in disgust.

     "Oh, just do it!" Ryuu demanded.

     "Don't raise your voice--!" she hissed, glancing about for people looking at her.

     "Just--do it!" Ryuu said, grabbing her arm. Puma resisted, but Ryuu had caught her by surprise and her hand made contact with the dragon's shoulder. Suddenly, her face lit up in awe.

     "Wow!" she whispered as her palm glided across his hide. "That's amazing!"

     "It's like being on the outside, looking in, isn't it?" he asked grinning at her. His words caught Jaxom's ear and he looked at Ryuu in utter confusion. The man gave him a knowing wink and then left Puma there to occupy herself while he went to speak with F'lar.

     "We'll be going now," he said to him and the other dragonrider.

     "I don't know what to say," F'lar said, shrugging his shoulders. "Somehow, I can't help but feel we misjudged you somehow. The way you defended Ruth's honor--"

     "Maybe you haven't misjudged me," Ryuu whispered conspiratorially to him. He winked as the Benden Weyrleader looked at him in shock. Then Ryuu turned and began walking to the road. He got a few paces then stopped to look back.

     "Puma!" he called, gesturing for her to follow.

     "Oh!" she exclaimed, snapping out of her trance. "Sorry!" she said to everyone as she rushed past to join him.

     He grinned at her obviously lightened mood. That only served to restore some of her irritation with him.

     "What?" she demanded.


	4. Part 4

**Part 4:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.18, At Sea, sailing South:

     "So what has got your attention so strongly?" Robinton gently asked when his eyes adjusted to the gloom in the passenger compartment. Menolly looked up in surprise from where she was worrying over her sheets and chewing on her carbon stick. She had been concentrating so hard that she hadn't heard his quiet approach or noticed the dimming of the light when he descended the ladder.

     "Oh! MasterHarper!" she exclaimed.

     "Is anything the matter?" he asked. "You've been very quiet these last few days. Worried about Sebell?"

     "No," she admitted. "I sent Beauty to him and he responded that everything was fine. Ryuu hadn't given them any trouble."

     "I know," Robinton said with a smirk. "I got a message carried by Kimi. Sebell's worried that he's given the Hall trouble, though. Interestingly, Ryuu didn't take the opportunity to claim against us! And he's had three such opportunities to do so. I wonder what he's waiting for."

     Menolly belatedly worried that Ryuu might indeed cause trouble for the Harperhall. She felt guilty for not having thought of the consequences he might bring against them.

     "So, what have you been working on?" Robinton cheerfully asked, changing the subject. He slid onto the bench on the other side of the table she was using.

     "I've got this tune running around in my mind that I can't get rid of," Menolly complained, picking up one of her sheets.

     "Well, I'm certainly not one to encourage you to get rid of any," the MasterHarper said grinning. "Not after the trouble we went through to find you. That _is_ , after all, why we were searching!" She sheepishly smiled and handed him the score.

     She watched him as he read the sheet, quietly tapping his fingers in rhythm as he read. Robinton had the habit to read the music score first, planting the tune in his mind before going to the lyrics. She saw how he evidently liked the melody, noting how his eyes crinkled while his head ever so slightly bobbed to the drumbeat. Then she saw his brows furrow and knew he was now reading the words.

     "How--very--odd!" he finally remarked. He continued to read the lyrics and slowly, a corner of his mouth momentarily turned upward as his eye darted to glance at Zair who was sitting on his shoulder. Finally, his face settled on utter confusion when he set the wood pulp sheet down and he held a vacant stare for several moments.

     "Question Song," he whispered.

     "MasterHarper?" Menolly asked, not certain she had heard him correctly.

     "It's like the Question Song," he repeated, blinking to restore water to his eyes.

     "What do you mean?" Menolly asked.

     "The tune is one very compelling, haunting, and sticks in the mind," he explained, "while the words make almost no sense, and yet they must have a very important message. To someone," he trailed off in thought.

     "'Steel and glass canyons' might be referring to building holds in canyons of rock," the MasterHarper considered. "But it goes on to repeat about steel again, 'Hanging steel in the sky'. I wonder why. Then there's an obvious reference to fire-lizards, but such an odd term, don't you think? 'Sea-gulls'? And then there are all these names of holds that I've never heard of.

     "Did you think of this yourself or did you hear it from somewhere?" he finally asked.

     "I--I'm not certain," Menolly said, puzzled by his question. "I remember it from a dream--that nightmare--about Ryuu and Sebell I had a few nights ago." Robinton nodded as if that was what he expected to hear.

     "Don't be surprised if that song is being sung in the Harperhall when we get back," he said, getting up to go to the ladder.

     "What do you mean?" Menolly asked, chasing after him.

     "Sebell mentioned he's been disturbed by a dream from a few nights ago," Robinton said, staring toward the northwest. "A dream about Ryuu, in which he heard a strange song. A tune with the names of strange holds listed through the song. I'd be interested in hearing it. Would you mind if we try to play it tonight?" he asked.

     "Not at all," she replied. "I'm almost done with the score, but I don't know if even the entire Hall has some of the instruments I remember from the dream."

     "Well, we'll do with what we got," he said, grinning. "It's mostly drum measures, pipes, harp, and gitar. We should get the gist of the tune."

     "So what is Ryuu doing now?" she asked.

     "He claimed his relative was last seen in Telgar," Robinton sighed. "And he's walking there. He just left Ruatha's territory yesterday."

     " _Walking_ to Telgar?" Menolly asked, astonished.

     "Sebell said he's definitely playing some game of misdirection," Robinton said. "They left Fort on runners, but then two of his accomplices and all four runners vanished while Ryuu and Puma walked onto Ruatha Hold, gave Jaxom a hard time and walked on out."

     "Jaxom!" she exclaimed, fearful that something had happened to the Lord Holder.

     "He's alright," Robinton assured her. "And so is Ruth. I should have said Ryuu gave Jaxom a hard time by beating on Dorse."

     "Dorse?" Menolly asked, perplexed. She had met Jaxom's milk-brother and didn't care much for the young man.

     "Yeah," Robinton said grinning. "Seems Dorse gave insult to Ruth and Ryuu took offense."

     "Why would Ryuu do that? Wouldn't that be Jaxom's decision?" Piemur spoke up from the wheel.

     "Evidently, Ryuu decided for him," Robinton replied. "That's what caused trouble for the Lord Holder. Jaxom's much too nice to take offense. But Ryuu showed some disturbing skills at fighting. Tuck warns us not to underestimate this man. We've given him cause to call us to task three times, but it's interesting that he evidently heard Ruth being insulted once and he's ready to kill five people."

     "I'm also worried about those others who are with him," Robinton continued after a few moments. "While everyone's keeping their eyes on Ryuu, what are Wolf and Arye doing? And who else does Ryuu have working for him?"

 

Fort Weyr:

     Lisa pondered the events of the last couple of days. There was a Fort Hold guard that she had never seen before accompanying the healer she saw with Brekke. There was nothing unusual about that but the timing, with her just escaping from that Hold and avoiding capture by those aliens. But the man didn't seem to have any eyes for anyone but the mindless charge kept at Fort.

     She observed how the man tried to evade the attentions of the weyrfolk to find time to speak with the woman. Or rather, with her fire-lizard, as the woman herself didn't seem to have much mind left.

     Lisa snorted in disgust, given who she was. But then she thought it an odd choice for him to pursue. The charge the man was supposed to be escorting seemed to spend a lot of time with Brekke, and the former queen rider would not have many good feelings for Kylara.

     Lisa resumed her new duties as a candidate for her own queen dragon. It was an assignment that she had great reservations for given that even if the creature will help her evade the aliens hunting her, there was a time-limit to that life-long bonding: these dragons do not live forever. She followed the other candidates to the hatching grounds where the latest eggs from one of the weyr queens 'cooked', as one of her more irreverent companions termed the incubation. He actually made her smirk in amusement and young Jorgun looked inordinately pleased.

     That one of her monitors reported no further activities from the aliens about the Weyr did help brighten her mood, as did the brown rider, F'nor, once remarking in Lisa's hearing to Brekke that Ryuu and his companions were apparently heading for Telgar Hold in their search. Lisa fervently hoped that the robots' fight had failed to register with the aliens hunting her.

 

At Sea:

     That evening, they settled in the cabin to play. The weather was still cooperating as the sea and winds were calm. Menolly's ten were just as excited as Zair and Farli and chatted at high speed with eyes whirling brightly.

     "Are we going to be able to hear our music over them?" Piemur asked standing by with his drums.

     Menolly's whistle through her fingers not only startled the fire-lizards, but the humans, too. Robinton and Piemur looked at each other in stunned amazement as she told her fair to settle down. With the exception of a few isolated cheeps here and there, the boat was soon quiet.

     "Ready?" Robinton asked, raising his eyebrows.

     The MasterHarper held his gitar ready, but started plucking the high notes of his harp. One, one, then two, pause, one, one, then three for the first measure. One, one, two, pause, one, one, then two for the second.

     Once he started playing, some of the fire-lizards began humming. Pleased by the results, Robinton repeated the sequence before switching to his gitar.

     " _Oh, my love_ ," he sang, " _it's a long way we've come._ "

     They continued, and were amazed by how the fire-lizards provided their voices, several taking the roles of different instruments, which really impressed Menolly as she blew on her reed pipes, especially when they reached a crescendo in the song and the creatures cried out as though mourning a dragon's passing, there wasn't a dry eye among the three harpers. They finished the song, with Robinton having the hardest time in keeping his voice from breaking.

     "That was incredible!" Menolly exclaimed. "So much like what I heard in my dream! That was it!"

     "So much emotion charged in that tune!" Robinton said after taking a long pull from his wineskin. "If that's not another 'Question Song', then I'm a drudge!"

     "Another 'Question Song'," Piemur agreed. "But for who?"

     "The last one was solved by Lessa," Robinton said. "Four hundred Turns after she went back to tell my predecessor to make it. Since this one is being given to us by Ryuu, does that mean...?" he trailed off.

     "But I thought Ryuu was one of the Oldtimers!" Menolly exclaimed. "Are we now to think he's _not_? That _we_ are the Oldtimers, to _him_?"

     "Well that's certainly a question _we_ need to solve!" Robinton replied.


	5. Part 5

**Part 5:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.19, late evening, across the boarder to Nabol:

     Ryuu and Puma took shelter in a niche in a cliff, out of sight of anyone following on the trail.

     "Will you be able to stay here for my return?" Ryuu asked her. "He shouldn't approach too closely if you're still here."

     "You're certain you need to go yourself?" she asked. "F'ress and V'yir are on site. Why not have them pick it up?"

     "It's my responsibility that it got lost in the first place," he explained, removing his equipment and clothes. "I've always cleaned up my own messes. I won't be long."

     "Isn't he going to notice the--" she began even as she tightly shut her eyes. There was a bright flash that left her night-blind despite her precautions. "--flash?" she finished.

     _Did you say something?_ the gold dragon asked. Ryuu had picked his medium-sized form, this time.

     "No," she sighed, bending down to inject a transponder into his arm and affix his communicator to the scales of his chest. "Nothing at all."

     _Good,_ the dragon said, spreading his wings in preparation for flight. _Like I said, this shouldn't take long._

     " _Chou-tou ma-te_ ," Puma said, grabbing a wing. "I'm not really clear why you are choosing _this_ time to jump ahead to Telgar."

     _I want to get there before their technicians get too far with dismantling the injector,_ Ryuu explained, glad his present form couldn't roll his eyes in exasperation. _They've had maybe three or four days to work on it, and unless their technology is higher than we estimated, the unit should still be intact. But it won't be much longer. Sooner or later, they're going to start applying brute force methods to opening it up. I figure their frustration level is just about there._

     "And once you get it, we're still going on this route?" she asked.

     _Unless you know a better way to mislead our target sitting in the regional capitol about what we're doing?_ he asked her. He pressed the site where his transponder had been injected to signal the _Panthro_. Puma quickly released him and moved away before the transport beam locked him in place and dissolved him in sparkling light and humming whine.

     She sat there fuming as she looked out into the dark, knowing that some of the lights generated must have reached Tuck's eyes. What she didn't know was that the harper's eyes weren't the only ones to see it.

 

Telgar Hold and the Mastersmithcraft Hall:

     F'ress stood guard in the passageway while Ryuu transported in from the ship. Once the noise of rematerialization finished, he returned to the room and nearly jumped out of his skin.

     "Rryuu!" he hissed. "You know I hate those crreaturres!"

     _I didn't choose this just to freak you out, F'ress!_ Ryuu said, walking toward the window. _This form is the best suited for stealthy infiltration._ He slowly opened the shutters and peered out, gauging the cover of darkness. One moon was still prominent in the sky, but frequent clouds drifted over the bright orb.

     "Several humans are still laboring in the machine shop. However, large areas of the chamber are in deep shadows," V'yir reported. "My black dragon form would be better suited for this endeavor," she added. "There is a rider with a blue dragon on watch above the hold. Would you not wish me to try?"

     _I appreciate your offer,_ Ryuu said to her. _But this is my responsibility to recover it. You have the grease paint?_

     "We do," V'yir replied, holding out a marker.

     "We betterr blacken those tusks, as well," F'ress told him.

     In a short time, they were looking at a red-eyed thirty-five horamter long mottled black, dark brown, and dark green dragon. Size-wise, this was quite a bit shorter than Ruth's body. And while even his largest dragon form still had slightly less bulk than the white dragon while being nearly a third as much longer, this intermediate size had substantial advantages. It allowed him to be very agile and he could nearly slip into areas that most humans could fit while maintaining a very effective strength ratio.

     "If they see you in those shadows," V'yir said, admiring their work, "they've got eyes as good as my people!"

     _Or they can see infrared,_ Ryuu admitted, looking over his arms and wings. _Wish me luck._

     "Good hunting," F'ress said as the creature slithered out the window.

     The climb went smoothly as he used the talons of his hands, feet, and wings to work his way to the ground. Even with the clouded moon, there was more than enough light for him to see and with his infrared range, the slight differences in the rock face was still visible.

     Ryuu chose not to fly, as that would attract the attention of the dragon and his rider on watch above the Hold. If he stuck to the shadows and kept out of view, he should be able to get to the warehouse and inside without raising an alarm.

     He completed the climb down without so much as dislodging a pebble then took a moment in the small victory to congratulate himself in overcoming his fear of heights.

     But just as he stepped out, the motion of an approaching heat source caught his eye. With a hiss, he leapt clear just as another hissing figure charged at that very spot he occupied.

 

     She was surprised that her quarry could move so quickly, and she instantly jumped to follow, mindful that she had underestimated the intruder once. _It won't happen again,_ she growled with determination. That the stranger, too, had wings, told her that she faced one of her own.

     _STOP!_ the voice demanded.

     Surprised once more, she halted. Once more, she had underestimated the intruder. The stranger wasn't one of her kind. It was one of the _Others_!

 

     S'rill's blue dragon suddenly moved to the edge of their perch to get a better look at what was going on.

     "What's wrong?" S'rill asked.

     _I'm not certain,_ Koth replied. _It looks like a couple of watch-whers are having an argument._

     "The creatures are so unpredictable," S'rill said, looking over the edge. It was pitch black to his eyes, however. "Should we intervene?"

 

     _I am not your enemy!_ the intruder told her.

     _Friend not sneak!_ she hissed. _Enemy!_

     _Frack!_ Ryuu cursed. _A watch-wher!_

     _Not called 'Frack'!_ she told him, warily sidestepping to look for an opportunity to attack. _You are_ Other _! Where is your two-legs?_

     _I have_ no _rider! No one_ rides _me!_ Ryuu said with such vehemence that the watch-wher paused in confusion. This was an _Other_ , but only her own kind or the _Originals_ might claim no rider!

     _Someone took something that belongs to me and I'm here to get it back,_ Ryuu told the creature.

     She blinked with confusion at that and tilted her head as she tried to figure out this stranger. _That_ sounded like something the _two-legs_ would say!

     _This is wrong,_ she concluded and raised her arm to step forward to attack. Or she tried to. She felt oddly dizzy and sleepy and it was getting hard to think. This stranger needed to be stopped yet that was something that could wait....

 

     Ryuu continued to concentrate on the watch-wher's dull mind until the creature's agitation diminished and it settled down to nap. Then he had to shake the length of his body.

 

     _They seem to have settled down,_ Koth told his rider as he tilted his head. _One of them must have got too close to the other. They have stopped arguing._

     Still, the dragon kept his eyes on the area. The angle was hard to get a good look at what was happening, but the creatures stopped their aggressive attitude. He'd keep watch on them a while longer.

 

     _Been a long time since I had to use_ that _,_ Ryuu thought to himself as he resumed his stealthy approach to the Mastersmithcraft Hall. By the time he reached the river and started up the canyon, he heard the approach of footsteps. Looking back, he saw two of the Hold guards find the watch-wher. He also saw the watch dragon on the heights trying to see the activities below, and quietly moved closer to the cliff to take him out of view.

     "Cor!" one of the guards exclaimed, aiming a kick at the creature and startling her awake. "Whatchyer doyin taken a sleep? You git enuf of thet all day long! Now git yer tail on guardin'!"

     The watch-wher scrambled about in confusion, looking for the intruder, but couldn't find it, or remember what the intruder looked or smelled like. She left, continuing to hunt for any sign of the stranger.

     Ryuu finally reached the compound that surrounded the warehouse. Taking care to move quietly lest another of the creatures was about, he began to climb the cliff. He used all of his limbs, including his wings, to work his way over to the large structure. Once he reached the building, he located one of the ventilator intakes on the roof of the hall and carefully broke the fastener holding the grill shut, taking care to minimize the noise.

     _It'd be just my luck that another one of those creatures would be about,_ he thought sarcastically.

     Fortunately, no other native, enhanced or otherwise, took any notice and Ryuu was soon inside, slowly climbing among the steel beam rafters. Not taking any surface for granted, he cautiously tested each beam as he moved above the floor. He needn't worry about being heard as several workers were still working forges, hammering ingots into shape, and talking loud in order to be heard.

     From his vantage, he could see nearly the entire factory. There was an area of workbenches that was currently unoccupied and shielded from direct view from the rest of the workers.

     Then he found what he was looking for, and his heart fell when he recognized what he saw. They had figured out how to remove the cartridge containing the transponder pellets. That was what caught his eye. It was a no-brainer on removing it from the injector. The rest of the stuff in the tray, however, was a mess of assorted parts that was unrecognizable until he noticed one small wire-wound doughnut that was slowly inching toward some metal tools outside the tray.

     Carefully, Ryuu crawled along the rafters to where he could swing his legs down and hang first by his hands, then by his wing claws before dropping to the floor.

     _Damn!_ he nearly wept. _They dismantled you already!_ It had been his favorite for nearly two thousand years and he had prided himself that it had lasted so long. And now it was in pieces!

     _I_ knew _I shouldn't have picked that one!_ he hissed, gingerly picking up the wooden tray with the pieces. Grimly, he pressed the spot on his arm to signal for transport.

 

     Fourteen Turn old Jancis couldn't sleep and had gotten up to look for what disturbed her. She had grown up in the Smithcraft Hall, and like her famous grandfather, could sleep through the worst of the din made at night. But _something_ didn't sound right. There was a muffled movement about Fandarel's workbench and she heard a strange humming noise. Like the sound fire-lizards make at a hatching.

     _What kind of fire-lizard would bring her eggs here?_ she wondered walking quickly into the office area. She stopped in stunned amazement as an indistinct cloud of gold sparkles faded from sight just as the sound also faded. She rubbed her eyes, not certain she had seen that correctly. Then she got a cold chill in her heart. Rushing to the intercom, she set the switch to where she knew Fandarel was sleeping.

     "Grandfather!" she yelled. "Come quickly! Someone's stolen that device Robinton sent here!" She and Fandarel had just figured out how to safely take it apart this afternoon and they had laid the parts out in the tray left on his workbench. And now it was gone!

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     Ryuu held the tray in his hands as he walked to the transport console using his feet and wings. Many people had commented how ungainly that method looked, but Ryuu found it quite natural when he needed his hands otherwise occupied.

     Sighing when he set the wooden tray down, he watched as the wired doughnut rose to hover half a decihoramter.

     _The room temperature superconducting coil,_ he considered. It began to drift in the confines of the tray's raised sides when his breath set it into motion. He removed his communicator and set it beside the tray.

     Sitting back on his tail, Ryuu triggered the Gateway and resumed his human form.

     "Bloody Frack! What am I going to do?" he wondered aloud, staring at the tray as he propped his head on his fists.

     "Is there a problem?" the ship's computer asked.

     "Other than this particular injector was a gift from Puma centuries ago, and she's going to be pissed when she finds out about what happened to it, no. No problem at all," Ryuu sighed. "That was the reason why I had to make this attempt to get it!"

     "Visual analysis indicates that eighty-seven percent of the device is present and there is no obvious damage to the pieces," _Panthro_ told him. "With spare parts and a few hours, I might be able to restore it."

     "You can fix it? And make sure she doesn't find out?" Ryuu asked, astonished.

     "With reasonable certainty," the computer replied.

     "You do that and I promise to chuck the bulk tape eraser out the air lock," Ryuu said running back to the transport platform. "In the meantime, I've got to get back to where Puma's waiting."

     "Sure, Ryuu," the ship replied, initiating transport. They both knew there never was any bulk tape eraser. It had always been a joke between them.

 

On the trail:

     "You sure took long enough!" Puma snapped at Ryuu the moment the annular confinement beam released him.

     "I ran into a small problem. A watch-wher nearly caught me." Ryuu truthfully said, gathering his clothes. _Sometimes, it was good to have something go wrong with a mission,_ he thought glibly.

     "So I gathered," Puma muttered. "V'yir and F'ress reported the entire area is stirred up like a hornet's nest!"

     "I got in quiet enough," Ryuu said gamely. "I got the injector back and didn't get caught. V'yir and F'ress will be fine. They weren't involved and they'll have witnesses that they weren't."


	6. Part 6

**Part 6:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.20, On the Road to Nabol:

     At first light, the man and woman continued along the road. Steg rushed back to Flynn and the others while Rigell and Chornal continued to shadow the couple. Steg didn't quite trust those newcomers, even if they had helped them all escape the caravan taking them to the mines.

     Still, even that dour, self-styled Lady Holdless should be pleased with the news. Thella had been looking for a girl she said could hear dragons. From the trial at Fort Hold, he had overheard someone say both girls they tried to grab could hear dragons! And here was one of them, maybe the very same 'Aramina' she had been going on about!

 

     Tuck continued to follow Ryuu and Puma, staying in the forest to their right. So far, the couple acted oblivious to his presence, but the harper knew better. They had deliberately kept their pace slow, allowing him to follow through the rougher terrain. After three days, even his trained patience was wearing thin and he had just decided to follow them on the road. But movement on the ridge above on the other side caught his eye. He saw a figure just for a second as he disappeared over the top. However, two other figures stealthily followed the couple.

     _Shells!_ he thought. _Holdless renegades! And now they seem to be stalking to ambush Ryuu!_

     He was now faced with a very bad choice. On the one hand, he had to act to protect Ryuu and Puma, as suspicious as their activities may be. On the other, he had standing orders to infiltrate, identify, and assist in capturing such ruffians. Before he could do anything, he had to find out how many thugs were involved. He waited for the trackers to get out of sight before summoning Snap.

     When she arrived, he gave her instructions to fetch a specific pile of clothes he left in his quarters. She understood, having done this kind of work before. While she was gone, Tuck pondered about what he'd seen. Those men were pretty good trackers. It would be very tough for himself, or even his mentor, Nip, to sneak up on them.

     His queen quickly returned and she waited with excited eyes. She knew there was some action about to happen and she was eager to help. As soon as Tuck had changed his outfit and donned a disguise, he gave her new instructions: fly ahead and find the man who just ran over the hill and follow him. She was to report back when he joined up with anyone else.

     She knew this! She had done like that in the past many times! And she had to be careful not to be seen!

     Instantly, Snap took wing and soon found the man Tuck had sent her to follow. She stayed several dragonlengths above and behind him, using the trees for cover. Only in such times did she envy greens or browns. Her beautiful hide was very good at attracting bronzes, but it is very hard to keep the sun from shining, even when hidden behind clouds.

     _And I'm brighter than the sun!_ she happily trilled. _Oops!_

 

     Steg glanced back at the noise, but didn't spot the creature that made the sound, and kept running along the faint trace back toward camp. It served as a short cut, shaving nearly an hour off a bend in the main road. In an hour, he reached the main camp with most everyone still trying to wake up, although it was evident that Thella-- _Lady_ Thella, Steg had to remind himself, had "helped" several people with coming alert.

     "Lady Holdless Thella! Flynn!" he called breathlessly when he entered the clearing.

     "Who's that?" Thella demanded, then nodded when she recognized Flynn's man, Steg. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "You're supposed to be on watch!"

     "We are!" Steg replied, and got a crack across the head.

     "Don't be insolent!" she yelled.

     "I'm sorry, Lady Thella!" Steg quickly said, bowing. It seemed to placate the woman. "There's a couple, a man and a woman, coming up the road! They should be here in about an hour. Rigell and Chornal are following!"

     "Slim pickings!" Thella spat, turning away.

     "But she's..." Steg had to pause when Thella whirled on him. Fortunately, she didn't strike him immediately, so he cautiously continued. "Th-the girl is one of them that got us sent to the mines!"

     "Really?" Thella asked, almost grinning. "And you want a little payback?"

     "I wouldn't mind it!" Steg said. "But you might be interested in her, too! There's word that she can speak to dragons!"

     It didn't take Thella more than a few moments to overcome her shock and get everyone mobilized for the ambush. By then, Snap was already winging it back to Tuck.

 

     _See them!_ Snap announced as she popped in from _between._ She sent him the image she'd seen. _Bad woman there!_ Tuck's spine went as cold as _between_.

     "Thella?" he exclaimed. This was exceptionally bad news, but never a better opportunity! He quickly pulled out a folded sheet and a carbon stick.

     "Snap!" he said, tying the message to her leg. "Take this to N'ton! Lioth's rider! Quickly!"

     After she vanished, Tuck ran across the trail and up the hill to cut across the bend.

 

Fort Weyr:   

     "He's looking mighty good, Jaxom!" N'ton said, stroking Ruth's wing. "Ready for today's lessons?"

     "We sure are!" the young Lord Holder said, grinning. He looked at K'nebel for conformation that his training would continue.

     "Firth says Jaxom's learned to visualize and pass the images to Ruth accurately enough for him to make the jump," the Weyrlingmaster said.

     "So I can take him to the other Weyrs?" Jaxom asked, eager to get going.

     "No, Jaxom!" N'ton snapped. Surprised and shocked, Jaxom started to look forlorn. He had expected to be allowed to learn the coordinates for the other four Weyrs. He already knew Fort and Benden. But he must've done something wrong for N'ton to speak to him so.

     "Ruth takes _you_!" N'ton quickly said unable to hold back how he was teasing the young man. K'nebel chuckled as Jaxom blushed at being caught by such a simple trick. But it was an important lesson to remember. The rider _directs_ , the _dragon_ takes them there. One had to be just as precise when instructing their dragons.

     Suddenly, a gold fire-lizard appeared, screeching hysterically. She fluttered about their heads, going on about something, and was so involved she didn't even notice the dragons about. Tris, N'ton's brown soon joined her, but instead of calming the queen down, it seemed to only make them both more agitated.

     _Calm down, Little Ones!_ Ruth said, soothingly to them. Only then, did the newcomer acknowledge Ruth and the other two bronzes. She settled down on N'ton's shoulder with Tris lighting on his accustomed perch.

     "Excuse me, Lord Jaxom," N'ton said as he coaxed the queen to his arm so he could get to the note tied to her arm.

     _She is Snap,_ Ruth told Jaxom. _She looks to the man that came with Lioth and Mnementh the other day. She says some bad people want to hurt Ryuu and Puma._

     "Lioth!" N'ton shouted after reading the note a second time to confirm what was written. "Please bespeak Ludeth to call in T'ledon and Serith! Quickly!"

     "I'm sorry, Lord Jaxom," N'ton said to him as the dragons roared back and forth. "Looks like your lessons will have to wait."

     "Ruth says it has to do with Ryuu," Jaxom said, closely observing how the Weyrleader would respond.

     "Apparently," N'ton said, carefully neutral. He turned away to look for the bronze's return. Tuck had requested the watch over Ryuu be pulled back to allow Thella to commit her ambush then wait for his signal to pounce on the group. If she or her people spotted the dragon spying on Ryuu, she would rush for cover and they might never get another chance to catch her.

     _Very risky, Harper,_ N'ton thought. _And while we're still_ not _sure if Ryuu really is a threat to Jaxom._

     Margata and Prilla came rushing up.

     "N'ton," his weyrmate asked, "What is happening? Why are you pulling T'ledon back?"

     "That Harper that's been shadowing Ryuu says there's a chance to catch that Renegade, Thella," N'ton replied. "But if she spots Serith, we might never get another chance!"

     "Oh, dear!" Margata replied.

 

     Ruth was distracted from what was going on among the Weyrleaders to peer closely at a girl that had quietly tagged along with the junior queen rider.

     _Hello?_ he greeted. The slim creature started and stared with wide eyes at the white dragon. _I won't hurt you,_ he quickly added to soothe her.

     _I know,_ the girl responded. Her clear mind-speak surprised Ruth. Few people could send directly to dragons without the dragon needing to _listen_ very hard. Her thoughts, however, were so clear and evidently no strain for her to send. _You just surprised me. What is going on?_

     _I'm not certain,_ Ruth told her. _But I think some bad people are going to try hurting a friend of mine. I hope Ryuu will be okay, but we must wait to go help him._

     _You know this Ryuu?_ she asked as her eyes got bigger still. _Who is he? What is he like?_

     _He seems nice,_ Ruth responded evasively.

     It was important they not reveal what Ryuu could see _between_. The dragons were still evaluating what his presence entailed for their allies and the fight against the Red Star. So far, he seems willing to keep his knowledge to himself and those others evidently like him.

     _He says he's looking for a relative of his,_ Ruth finally explained. _Why do you ask? Do you know him?_

     _No,_ she replied. _I--I was--just curious. Did he say why he was looking for this 'relative'?_

     _He said it was time to go home,_ Ruth said after cocking his head to think about it for a bit. _He sounded a little sad whenever he spoke of it. I don't know why he should be sad._

     "I see," the girl quietly muttered.

     _You sound sad now,_ Ruth observed, looking at her. _What is wrong?_

     _Nothing,_ she slowly sent. _I just need time to think about something. Thank you. You've been very helpful._

     _I have?_ Ruth asked, blinking in surprise. _What did I do?_

     Lisa gave him a quick dissembling smile and lightly kissed his snout before quietly walking away. Ruth watched her leave, his head tilted in utter confusion.

 

     Something in the environment distracted Jaxom from following the Weyrleaders' plans for ambushing Thella. When he looked about, he noticed Ruth was staring off at something else.

     _Ruth?_ he sent an inquiry. _Is anything wrong?_

     His dragon started from his gaze and focused his attention on Jaxom. Movement caught in the corner of his vision caused Jaxom to glance up and see the other dragons likewise pull their attentions back to local matters.

     _No,_ Ruth quickly replied. _I don't think so._

     Puzzled, Jaxom tried to follow the direction Ruth had been staring, but all he saw were distant people and animals mingling at the far side of the bowl. And he tried to recall the unknown girl he'd seen accompanying Prilla. Finally shrugging in hopelessness, he gave up the idea.

     _Too bad,_ he thought. _She seemed pretty enough._

 

     "And so when I tried some of their desserts, I thought immediately of chocolate," Puma was still excitedly telling Ryuu. "And when I thought of that, I figured that since they like to bargain so much, why not _sell_ them the stuff?" she asked.

     Ryuu suddenly stopped and looked about in confusion.

     "Did you hear me?" Puma demanded noticing how he had halted. "I said we could sell it to them! The only question was: How to introduce it? And you know what? The answer was staring us in the face the entire time we were there! _Dragons_! _Are you listening?_ " she yelled.

     "Something's wrong," Ryuu quietly muttered, holding up his hand.

     "What now?" Puma asked.

     "He's been gone for some time!" Ryuu realized what had been bugging him. If it weren't for her distracting conversation, he would've noticed long before now. _But why?_ he wondered.

     "Who?" Puma asked, totally baffled by what he was talking about.

     "Serith!" Ryuu snapped in annoyance.

     "You and your obsessions!" Puma spat. "He probably popped off to go to the bathroom."

     "You're forgetting that since we crossed into Ruathan territory, they haven't let us out of their sight," Ryuu explained grinning. "Even to do that." Then his smile faded.

     "Something's wrong," he repeated as he looked about warily. "Something else is happening."

 

Southern Continent:

     "That should be the last of it," Wolf told Arye as he gathered up the pattern enhancers from the debris of the collapsed building. "This would've been so much easier without these fire-lizards buzzing about. Our scanners are useless!"

     "Not completely," Arye said as she returned from the jungle carrying several plant samples. "You won't believe the medicinal properties of these plants!"

     "You won't believe the antiques I found in the wreckage," Wolf countered. "I'm reluctant to let them remain. They'd look great in a museum."

     "So would we! We're all older than they are!" Arye quipped. "Ryuu said for us to disable the devices, not remove them. I suppose if the colonists find them all still here, they'll be less likely to think we gathered up a batch."

     A couple of fire-lizards swooped down to hover in front of them and chittered excitedly before flying off again.

     "They sure are an excitable bunch," Arye commented as they watched the colorful swarm. "It's hard to make out what all they're saying."

     "So far, I get the impression they're happy to see us," Wolf observed. Then they both frowned.

     "To see us _again_?" they asked each other in confusion.

 

Road to Nabol:

     "Maybe they were just wanting to make sure you left Jaxom's territory," Puma suggested. "They seem pretty keen on keeping you apart."

     "Then why stop now?" Ryuu pointed out. "What's to keep me from doubling back?"

     "So why not transport back to the _Panthro_?" Puma asked. "There's no reason for us to keep going now that they're no longer watching us."

     "Except that only the dragons have stopped watching us," Ryuu said with a sigh. "You're missing the fact that Wolf's not here, so we have no way of confirming Tuck's not following us."

     "Why not use the scanners?" Puma suggested, pulling hers out.

     "The scanners have limited--" Ryuu angrily began then stopped. _Without the natives about, their range should be restored!_ he realized. "You're right!" he said, moving up beside her. "They should be working now."

     "Uh-oh!" Puma muttered. She showed him the readout. The scanner's range had expanded to about a kilometer. Not completely normal, but much better. And near the edge of its track, the scanner showed several humans stationary on either side of the trail ahead.

     "That's an ambush," Ryuu muttered even more puzzled than before. "Why would they pull the dragon back at this moment? They must've seen that!"

     "Who's this?" Puma asked pointing out a moving trace far to their left.

     "That might be Tuck," Ryuu observed noting that no one followed them on the trail. However, there were traces indicating two people in the woods along the ridge above them. "Look at that," he said pointing at the display.

     "Twenty-three or four, depending on whose side that Harper is on," Puma said. "What do you think?"

     "I think we should keep our weapons handy," Ryuu said, slowly closing her scanner and handing it to her to put away.

     "And we just walk into the ambush?" Puma asked astonished. Ryuu grimly nodded and continued on the trail.

 

     Tuck rushed through the woods, worried that he was making too much noise, but time was of the essence. If he weren't there to signal the dragons to come, he'd have the blood of possibly two dead people on his hands.

     And he had a hard time understanding what Thella was doing out here so far from her normal field of operation. But they had lost track of her after that last debacle earlier this Turn. They had found Dushik and one other man down in a pit near Benden Hold, but no sign of Thella or of Aramina. _She must be trying to recruit new renegades,_ he concluded.

     Ahead, he saw the road come back into view and he slowed, trying to listen for danger. As he did, he heard the excited shouts of people coming from the trail. He was about to rush forward again when he saw two people ahead of him running down the hill to join the melee. He quickly rushed ahead and got to the road in time to see one of the captors deliver a blow to Puma's head, knocking her unconscious.

     "Oh, man!" Ryuu yelled from where he was held by two burly ruffians. "You really shouldn't have done that! It's only going to piss her off!"

     "Shut up!" Thella yelled at him. She rushed down the hill on their left to examine the fallen woman. A quick kneel to look was all that it took and Thella was back on her feet rushing one of her cohorts.

     "You said this was Aramina!" she screamed at the man as she grabbed him by his collar and violently shook him. Another man rushed up to halt her. "You idiot!" Thella was screaming. "I need _her_ to keep the dragons from finding us before we figure out how to eliminate those blasted vermin and their riders once and for all!"

     "Steg never said she was this 'Aramina'!" the second man protested as he stopped her attack. "But she is one of them that got us sent to the mines," he added when he got them separated.

     Thella jumped away and pulled out her knife and faced the second man. "Don't you ever touch me again, Flynn!" she yelled.

     Flynn held up his hands, offering no resistance.

     "Ain't never said this was Aramina!" he repeated. "But word is she and the other girl could speak to dragons, too! Isn't it likely there's more? What about that healer girl? Word is she can, also! Maybe there's lots of people who can speak to them!"

     "Aramina can speak _and_ hear them!" Thella yelled. Then Ryuu laughed, distracting the confrontation.

     "And so what?" he asked. "What's a girl that can hear dragons going to do for you? Did I hear you right? You want to get rid of the dragons?"

     "Damned straight," Thella growled at him. "Those parasites are a plague on Pern and so are those fire-lizard pests! But first, I need Aramina to help us hide from those things. Then, I can look for a way to get rid of those monsters!"

     "Somehow, I have a hard time believing you're going to get this Aramina to cooperate," Ryuu said. He'd heard enough to figure these people were seriously and insanely beyond reason. He knew he wasn't supposed to get involved in local politics, but he couldn't stand by while someone tried to eliminate _these_ creatures.

     "Besides, you don't need this Aramina girl to hear dragons. She's not the only one," he said, throwing a glance at Puma.

     Thella looked incredulously at the fallen woman, unable to believe her good luck.

     "Really?" she asked. "She can hear them?"

     "Yes, Puma can speak _and_ hear them! _Me, too!_ " he added with a sneer. "But I don't need no stinking dragons to beat you twits! The way you fight each other, I can beat you all, myself!"

     They all looked at him in stunned silence. It was ridiculous for him to be making such a boast. Thella took in the sight of this one lone, skinny and not, by any stretch of the imagination, large individual held with his arms locked behind him by two huge brutes on either side. In addition, two fearsome members of the gang stood behind him not more than an arm's length away with another three just a few paces distant. She began to laugh. She had never heard or seen anything so funny as this. The rest of the gang began laughing, and Ryuu quickly added his own muted chuckles. They all started to lose their breath from the mirth.

     Suddenly, Ryuu brought both of his legs up and kicked out at the knees of his captors. As they released him to deal with their pain, his feet landed on the ground again. A back kick struck the groin of one man behind him and Ryuu quickly followed up by spinning about and driving an elbow to the temple of the other.

     By this time, Thella and the others had stopped laughing, but before they were able to react, Ryuu had taken down the other three near him, and he turned his attention finally toward Thella.

     Something punched him making his upper body twist about. When he straightened up again, Ryuu saw a blade handle stuck to the left center of his chest. He glared at the woman standing there looking for another knife to throw. Ryuu deliberately pulled the blade out and the sight of that gave Thella pause. Once it was clear, he snarled at her and plunged the blade into the body of the man closest to him. He resumed standing and continued to glare at Thella.

     She snorted, impressed by his bravado in death. Still, this was taking too much of her time. She gestured to her still-functioning companions.

     "Get him!" she ordered. Two men who had been standing over Puma rushed to tackle the mortally wounded man.

     Ryuu calmly looked at them and pulled something from his pocket, held between thumb and curled fingers.

     A hissing, brightly glowing purple straight line suddenly appeared, connecting the object Ryuu held with one of them, and the man disappeared screaming in a searing violet glare. A second bolt quickly struck the second man and he, too, vanished in a brilliant flare that evaporated like smoke.

     Then Ryuu slowly turned to face Thella once more. With an expression as cold as hers had been, he aimed the weapon at the four bodies on the ground between them and vaporized them one-by-one. His gaze never left her face even as each hissing unerring lance connected with its screaming, writhing victim.

     Only, this time, the expression on her face was no longer cold and calculating. It was one of horror. This was something she had never seen or even heard of in the worst rumors: a man that should've dropped the instant she threw the knife now delivering a gruesome death worse than anything those cursed dragonriders and their beasts could ever come up with. It was _magic_! _Evil!_ And she was frozen on the spot with terror as most of her people ran away!

     "And here's something special for you, Bitch!" Ryuu growled, pointing the device at her! _Disrupt,_ he mentally commanded his phaser.

     His words, vicious as any she had ever uttered, actually freed her from the terror induced paralysis. She reached out and grabbed Flynn, who had likewise been frozen in fear, throwing him in front of Ryuu's aim just as a brilliant bright blue beam struck.

     There was an explosion that threw Thella back onto the hillside.

     Ryuu couldn't see what happened through the cloud of debris, but knew that the woman shouldn't have survived that blast even had the beam struck the man instead. He searched for his next target and saw him frozen in place, just inside the tree line. He shifted his aim.

     Suddenly, a screaming gold native appeared, blocking the shot. Ryuu blinked in surprise. It was Snap! He blinked again and realized the man he was about to shoot was Tuck! And just like that, the moment his determination faltered, he collapsed to his knees. The blood loss from his wound finally caught up with him! He was just seconds from the Gateway being activated, with or without his will.

 

     Tuck had stealthily moved through the soft wood forest, looking for an opportunity to assist Ryuu, but even with Ryuu's expert skills at fighting, he had serious doubts about the two of them taking on over twenty vicious killers loyal to Thella.

     Suspecting that Puma was likewise skilled, he considered that the three of them together could possibly do so. However, she was out of the picture, and then Ryuu had to get overconfident and start without him. Only Ryuu had a nasty surprise for everyone, even as the he pulled out Thella's knife. That ancient weapon Robinton had been so worried about! And he was about to be on the receiving end of that horrible device!

     Then Snap showed up to save his life. He could breathe again, even as he saw Ryuu drop to his knees about to breathe his last. He hurried forward when he saw the device slip from Ryuu's grasp and Tuck made certain it was safely in his pocket before he knelt to assist the dying man.

     "Ryuu!" Tuck called to him, grabbing him by the shoulders. He tried to guide him to turn over and lie on his back, but Ryuu resisted and stayed on his hands and knees.

     "Y-y-you b-bet-better get a-way from-me!" Ryuu said through the blood spraying from his lips.

     Something struck Ryuu from behind, knocking him into Tuck and entangling them. Snap screamed and flew at the man with the knife. It was the person Ryuu had stabbed with Thella's blade, the only remaining person of the gang who hadn't run away or been destroyed by that horrible weapon.

     As Tuck scrambled away from Ryuu to free himself, he heard Ryuu call out with a hissing voice, "Bub! That was a big mistake!"

     Tuck got to his feet and was pulling out one of his hidden knives, about to turn about to face their opponent when there was a blinding flash that startled him. He heard Snap cut short her scream as she went _between_.

     Tuck continued his spin, blinking, and gasped in shock at seeing a gold dragon sitting there. The creature turned her head to glare at Thella's man, who was holding his face where Snap had scratched him. The gold used a wing to slap him a dragonlength back. Then the dragon leapt upon the unfortunate ruffian.

     Tuck blinked in confusion, looking about for Ryuu, but aside from blood pooled on the road, there was no sign of him! And it surprised him that this gold was not much larger than Ruth! At first, he thought she was young. But he realized a queen that size should be safely ensconced back at her Weyr, not outside it avenging people. As he watched in horror, he got the distinct feeling there was something very strange about her.

 

     Thella coughed as she struggled to sit up. Her face stung like the worst sunburn she'd ever had and when her hand came away from touching the pained flesh, it was bloodied. Sitting up in confusion, she looked about, trying to figure out what had happened. Then she saw the gold dragon. It was savaging something she couldn't make out with her rider standing by.

     _What the--? Where did_ that _thing come from?_ she wondered. Suddenly, the monster looked up and at her! Thella struggled to her feet and began running up the hill.

     _You're still alive, Bitch?_ Ryuu sent as he roared. _Not for long!_

 

     Just then, Snap returned, happily shouting to Tuck.

     _WHAT?_ Ryuu exclaimed, whirling on them. _SHIT!_

     _Male gold!_ Snap screeched.

     _Puma! Wake up!_ Tuck heard the dragon call. The woman stirred but was obviously still hurt.

     Then the dragon did something that horrified him twice over. She _flamed_! And worse yet, the gold dragon had flamed _Puma_!

     There was a blinding flash of light and he heard an angry roar.

     _Don't bitch at me, Puma!_ Ryuu shouted. _We don't have time to argue! Ruth's coming and he's bringing friends! Grab this idiot and the native and get out of here! Take these two upstairs and sit on them while I draw the others off!_ With that, Tuck felt air blast past him as the dragon leapt into the sky. He was still rubbing the spots from his eyes when something impacted into his chest and he heard Snap scream in terror. Then he felt and heard wind going by and it felt like he was on a ship in pitching seas.

 

     _Three...two...one..._ Ryuu counted off the horonds as he beat his wings to reach the position he needed. Right on cue, the white dragon popped back into existence.

     _Hi, Ruth! Catch me if you can!_ he called swooping by right in front of Ruth's nose. Startled, Ruth pulled back and hovered.

 

     _Where did_ she _come from?_ the white dragon asked as he screamed in surprise. Movement of something else gold momentarily caught his eyes, and he looked, but lost the object as it snaked among the trees. However, that odd gold dragon was swinging back around, pulling his attention.

     He was indecisive in that he had come without Jaxom at Snap's cries for immediate help. He felt he should stay and wait for the others. This is where Snap had gone to, but there was no sign of the fire-lizard, the person she looked to, Ryuu, Puma, or the people who had hurt them. But there was this strange dragon that must have seen what happened. And she spoke with Ryuu's voice which means _he_ had _Impressed her!_ She could answer his questions. However, if he didn't follow and catch her soon, she'd be gone before the others arrived. Ruth began chasing her.

 

     _Rryuu!_ M'leer suddenly called him on a private sending. _Arre you alrright?_

     _Yes, I am now,_ Ryuu replied. _I could use some chase music right about now. I'm flying the white one!_

     _Wait!_ Ruth called. _Who are you? Where's Ryuu? What happened to the people here?_

     _Rrryuu!_ M'leer exclaimed in shock. _I underrstand that the white one is a MALE drragon! I didn't think you werre that way!_

     _I'm NOT!_ Ryuu responded testily. _Just a horond, M'leer,_ he told her.

     _Catch me if you can, kid, and I'll tell you,_ Ryuu called over his shoulder. _Otherwise, Ruth, you'll just have to settle for eating my vortices!_ Incensed, the white dragon pursued with determination.

     _Puma and I had a little problem with some of the locals,_ Ryuu told her, resuming his private sending. _We were attacked and forced to use the Gateway, but she's got Robinton's Second-story Man and his native with her and I've got Ruth on my tail! I'm trying to pull him away before others--Frack--they've just showed up! Hopefully they'll investigate that creep I tore up!_

 

     Tuck's vision finally cleared enough to see what was going on, and he instantly wished he were still blinded. He was zipping through the woods at incredible speed, zigzagging among, and sometimes looping about, the tree trunks. He tried to get some idea what was holding him, but all he could see of the thing was it was long, gold, and scaled.

     Its forward end led the route he followed, likewise for the rear end trailing the snaking path through the air. The only parts of the creature he could clearly see were the talons that held him and a tree-trunk thick member that made its body. Snap was wrapped about his neck with her eyes whirling white.

     _This,_ he concluded, _is_ not _a good sign!_

 

     Lioth burst into the air, followed by bronzes Firth and Zagenth and blue Serith. Jaxom rode with N'ton and the Weyrleader noted how pale Jaxom still looked. He didn't blame him. The way that Ruth suddenly leapt and went _between_ at the fire-lizard's call startled everyone, dragons and riders alike.

     It was several moments before it was clear the white creature hadn't suicided, and Jaxom started to breathe again. From that moment, they couldn't get into the air fast enough to satisfy the Lord Holder. N'ton also felt he wasted several moments as they rose to a safe height all the while confirming with Lioth they had valid coordinates.

     Then they came out of _between_ , and he was further puzzled in that there was not only no sign of Ruth, but no fire-lizard, and no Ryuu or Puma! However, there was a body lying there and a large fire burning in the middle of the road farther up the trail.

     "T'ledon, stay up here and try to sight Ruth," N'ton called out. "K'nebel and I will check this out."

     "Where is he?" Jaxom exclaimed looking about as they came down to land.

     "I don't know, lad," N'ton said, directing Lioth to land near the body. "Can you still hear him?"

     Jaxom concentrated and seemed to relax even as his expression became more puzzled.

     "He's close by," he said in a relieved sigh, and then added with a confused voice, "but he says he's busy!"

     " _BUSY?_ " N'ton exclaimed, halting in the act of dismounting Lioth.

 

     Unable to escape Ruth, Ryuu flew close to the treetops up one canyon and down another. They had flown only a couple of miles east when he heard the other dragons arrive in the area.

     _Is therre anything we can do?_ M'leer asked.

     _Not much!_ Ryuu sent back. _We've lost our transponders, communicators, and weapons, while the natives have their_ between _!_

     _Now comes the tricky part,_ he concluded. He needed to keep the white from pulling the other dragons to their location while at the same time evading their search for them.

     Fortunately, he heard them land near where the attack had occurred. Also fortunate, he heard Ruth tell Jaxom that he was okay but a little busy. He had to grin.

     _The augmented native actually has something of an ego! Good!_ he told M'leer. _I know just the ticket to keep him interested enough to_ stay _'busy'._

     _C'mon, Ruth!_ Ryuu taunted him. _If you can't_ catch _me, at least_ try _to_ keep up _!_

     _That_ doesn't _sound like the most effective way to evade the crreaturre!_ M'leer sent back.

     He slowly began to lead Ruth with mostly right turns, setting up his pattern and allowing Ruth to slowly gain on him. Then with less than a length separating them, Ryuu suddenly pulled in his right wing, ripping about on a sharp left hook taking him below Ruth in the opposite direction.

 

     Surprised, Ruth still managed to veer on his wing, but in the middle of the turn, the gold reversed again, this time with a right hook, back on his original direction. The switch cost Ruth several minutes to regain altitude and resume the pursuit.

     Simultaneously incensed and impressed, Ruth was now determined to catch this dragon. One thing that he did know, there wasn't a dragon on Pern that could match him in flying. Ruth figured that with this creature being no bigger than he was, wherever she was from, the gold should only have as much endurance as he had.

 

     Puma reached a point where she felt it was safe and dropped Tuck at the base of a tree. She circled it several times as she pondered what to do. Her communicator, transponder, scanner, and weapon had all been destroyed when Ryuu flamed her and forced her to use the Gateway.

     _What the hell was he thinking?_ she screamed. _Now there's no way to signal the ship! And what does he expect me to do with these two?_ she finished with a hiss, taking a moment to glare at them.

 

     Snap hid her face in Tuck's shoulder while he watched the snake-like creature circle them as it swam through the air. It puzzled him how the thing could stay up. It didn't look like it had wings anywhere along its length. If only it slowed down enough for him to get a clear look at the thing. It resembled a tunnel-snake, only it seemed much longer, and no snake was gold like a dragon.

 

     _Wolf!_ Puma exclaimed, stopping the chase of her own tail. _He should be on the ship! But if I call him, those other things will hear!_

     Still, she tried to reach him by a private sending. If he was on schedule, he might still be on the planet doing that 'clean-up' job Ryuu had asked him to perform.

     _Wolf!_ she called.

     _Yes, Puma?_ Wolf's answer actually surprised her.

     _Wolf! We're in trouble! I've lost all my signaling devices and we've got the people here trying to chase us down!_

     _I felt you guys using the Gateway,_ Wolf acknowledged. _Stand by. Arye and I are going back up and we'll see what we can do. What's your general location?_

     _According to the maps, we had just left Ruathan territory going north on the main road to Nabol,_ Puma replied. She glanced at Tuck and the creature he kept.

 

     Tuck cringed under the creature's scrutiny.

     _Somehow, I don't think Robinton had anything like_ this _in mind when we thought Ryuu had dangerous Ancient-timer devices!_ His thoughts reminded him of the device he took from the injured Ryuu. _And whatever happened to him?_ he wondered.

     _WHAT?_ Puma suddenly exclaimed roaring at him. Snap violently trembled as she wrapped about his neck and shoulder. _You have IT? GIVE IT TO ME!_ NOW _!_

     With his hand shaking so much he could barely grip it, Tuck pulled the device from his pocket. He momentarily contemplated using it as he had seen Ryuu. But he honestly didn't know how to use the device and figured if the creature wanted to harm him, it could've done so already.

     _Go ahead,_ Puma said, snorting at him. _Be careful in case you disintegrate yourself and that creature you love!_

     "I won't do any such thing," Tuck stated as calmly as he could as he opened his hand and held the weapon on his palm.

     The monster's head suddenly shot forward. Before he could react, it turned away and a length of the creature's neck looped by his hand until a talon came around and snatched the device from his palm. By the time he pulled his hand away from it, the creature's feet and tail had completed another encirclement of the tree and the monster was staring at him again.

     _Of course you can not,_ Puma told him. _The device is not keyed to you. Even if you knew how to use it, it wouldn't let you!_

     "What kind of creature are you?" Tuck finally had to ask. Its head was vaguely like a dragon's but there were no facetted eyes, and there were horns and a thick flowing mane, as well as a long, thin, flexible rod growing from either side of its snout. Those rods looked like they were maybe half the length of this thing!

     In addition, the creature was far thinner than any tunnel-snake would be, if those creatures could get that long. There were small, sharp spinal ridges running its entire gold-scaled length. And there were only two sets of short legs that ended in paws with five thick talon-tipped fingers.

     _I am a dragon!_ Puma replied. It was only then that he recognized her voice.

     "A dragon?" Tuck exclaimed. "That's impossible!"

     _Puma, we're on the_ Panthro _,_ Wolf called to her. _We've shifted our orbit over you general area._

     _Wolf!_ Puma yelled, turning about to send to him. _I've got a weapon! I can signal you with a few shots!_

     _Great! Can you do that? All our sensors give us is subspace distortions all over the place! We've got heat signatures, but that's all._

 

     "Fwah!" K'nebel exclaimed. "Firth! Get us out of here!"

     "What's wrong?" N'ton asked as he watched the bronze dragon hop-step away from the fire.

     "That smoke is--*<cough>*--really nasty! Whoa!" K'nebel yelled waving his hand in front of his face. "Whatever you do, don't get downwind of that stuff!"

     "I see something!" T'ledon suddenly yelled. "It looks like lightning strikes to our north!"

     "Lightning?" N'ton shouted. "There's not a cloud in the sky!"

     "I know!" T'ledon shouted back. "That, and the fact it's shooting in a straight line!"

     "Ryuu!" N'ton exclaimed under his breath. He remembered Robinton had warned him of some ancient's weapon that he was suspected of having. He leapt for Lioth and mounted his bronze.

     "N'ton!" Jaxom yelled.

     "You stay here, Lord Holder," N'ton shouted, taking no argument. "We'll check this out!"

 

     _Wolf?_ Puma called. _I'm going to have company and we don't want to invite them for dinner!_

     She could sense the dragons approaching and waited for the transport beam to lock on to her and begin the dematerialization process. But nothing was happening.

     _Wolf! Now would be a good time!_ she prompted again. She expected to see them sweeping in over the trees at any moment when she finally felt herself frozen in place.

 

     Lioth was the first to reach the area. The trees were too dense for them to land, but he could see an object through the leaves. What surprised him was that it was gold!

     _Tris!_ he called to N'ton's fire-lizard. _Go down there and tell us what you see!_ The little brown swooped through the canopy just as they heard a humming noise. Tris paused and all the dragons cocked their heads in confusion.

     _Hatching?_ Lioth exclaimed. _There's no Hatching here!_ But that was what the noise sounded like.

     Tris pushed his way through the leaves and only got a glimpse as the transporter finished dematerializing the beings.

     _Gold smoke!_ Tris reported as he returned. _Humming gold smoke. Hatching? Thread flying queens!_

     _I agree,_ Lioth responded. _It is impossible!_

 

     _This is the oddest gold dragon I've ever seen,_ Ruth thought as he chased the dragon. _Is she deformed like me? Worse than me from the looks of her!_

     She had no forked tail and the poor creature had _scales_! Not just patchy hide, but _real scales_! And her wing membranes were completely opaque.

     _Ryuu, what did you do to her?_ he demanded. _That's_ not _how you treat your dragon!_

     The gold dragon grinned back at the white following and Ruth was even more astounded. Her head and eyes were unlike any dragon's face, especially with those tusks sticking out the end of her snout! It unnerved him as he pursued her and Ruth became reluctant about calling anyone to help catch her. _What kind of dragon is this?_ he asked.

 

     Ryuu headed straight for a cliff side and Ruth held back from his chase, certain the gold creature would have to swerve right, left, or start to climb over it. As expected, Ryuu swung left at the last moment, letting Ruth cut inside the gold's turn. However, that was a ruse, for once Ruth was committed to his turn, Ryuu veered the other way, vigorously beating his wings to sail up and over the edifice. Ruth was forced to double back and give chase all over again.

 

     _She's good flying!_ Ruth thought, astonished by her moves. _I'll give her that!_

 

     Thella had caught up with her people, not an easy thing given their head start and her injuries. She had taken her cloth and rubbed at her face to clear away the blood, only to find most of it was hers. Her face had numerous pits that bled and she saw her outfit also had holes and pits, some of them oozing blood as well from the shrapnel where Flynn had exploded. Whatever that beam did, it blasted him as though he had been handling mining nitro.

     "Are you alright, Lady Holdless?" Steg asked as she ran beside him.

     "Do I _look_ alright?" Thella barked at the man. "We'll discuss your leaving me like that once we're clear of those blasted dragonriders!"

     _YOU BITCH!_ echoed in their heads as a roar reverberated across the landscape. Thella looked back only to see that gold dragon swooping down upon them. Worse yet, there was a white right on her tail. Soon, there'd be dragons of every color descending on them from every direction. Still, something didn't feel right, Thella realized. And her feeling got worse as she saw how the gold dragon aimed her blazing red eyes upon her and was opening her mouth.

     Thella's eyes went wide with terror as fire vomited from the gold's gullet. With speed and strength borne in desperation, she grabbed Steg and threw him behind her letting his greater mass shield her while she was propelled another direction into the woods.

     "A gold _FLAMING_?" she screamed. "Giron! If I hadn't killed you already, I'd kill you again for not telling me _golds could FLAME!_ "

 

     _Flaming SHIT! I missed!_ Ryuu exclaimed when his fire struck the wrong target. He fumed as he couldn't come about to try again with Ruth right on his tail. So he did the only thing he could. He _linked_ with Thella.

     _Count yourself lucky that I've got something to keep me busy, Bitch!_ Ryuu told her as she scrambled for dubious safety. _But don't you_ ever _forget--I have just tasted your mind! I can now find you_ anywhere _you run, at_ anytime _of my choosing. Keep looking over your shoulder, because I'm going to show up someday to tap you there and say 'Hi!'. I_ will _taste your flesh and blood as I taste your thoughts!_

     With that, Ryuu veered away toward the south again, leading the white dragon to follow.

 

     Ruth was not only shocked that a gold flamed, but that she killed a human, too! Angered, he pursued Ryuu.

     _How could you do_ that _?_ Ruth demanded. _They are our allies against the Red Star and Thread!_

     _Those people are no dragon's allies,_ the gold angrily responded.

     _That's not our place to say_! Ruth said after thinking over that statement. _At most, we catch them and let our riders and friends decide what to do!_

     _I was just trying to save you all a bit of time,_ the creature finally said. _Catching them among these trees would take too much effort and put dragons and riders at too great a risk. Besides, I'm not one of your kind after all._

     _Evidently,_ Ruth nervously thought.

     This strange gold dragon surprised Ruth. He'd never had any problem out-maneuvering any dragon, but this one was a major challenge. Being only slightly longer, the creature was just as agile as he, but Ruth had hoped this time, being such size would mean the gold would have the same disadvantage as Ruth had always faced in the past: lack of endurance. And right now, it was a race between them as to whichever reached that point first would lose!

 

     During the vigorous dogfight, Ryuu was also highly impressed by the white's agility. Only two beings had ever exceeded his flying, that being Puma and Sokon with the natural agility and pure telekinetic flying of their Chinese dragon forms. But Ruth was a perfect match for him wing for wing.

 

     _What was_ that _?_ Jaxom wondered as he heard a dragon's roar and later saw smoke rising somewhere to the west. _Ruth! Where are you? What are you doing?_

     _Ryuu has Impressed a gold dragon!_ Ruth replied and it worried Jaxom at how upset he sounded. _I'm giving chase! She's just flamed a human!_

     " _WHAT?_ " Jaxom exclaimed. He looked back at the corpse. It was sickening, but with horror, he just realized the man had to have been savaged by a _dragon_!

 

Ista Weyr:

     Ryuu gave his warning to his crew, and T'khill just managed to get Stealth to stay quiet. The creature whined in protest as the jolt went through T'khill and Maleer's frames. Then he growled angrily as his rider returned to his work.

     _I will kill Ryuu when I see him!_ the bronze promised.

     "Shsss!" Maleer hissed to silence the dragon. "Don't trry it, Stealth! If you kill him, it will only piss him off!"

     The dragon stopped and blinked to puzzle that statement as he waited for T'khill to finish the dismembering of the wherry. Still, he thought he was very fortunate to have T'khill as his rider. He really liked it when T'khill broke open the buck's cranial cavity. But at the same time, it puzzled Stealth when T'khill would take his time to examine the treat before feeding it to him. It was as if T'khill was looking for something. Stealth always meant to ask T'khill what it was, but the succulent morsel always drove such thoughts away. He felt so lucky, especially since no one else did such a nice thing for their dragon.

 

     K'der walked along the line of weyrlings where the riders were busy butchering the wherry carcasses. It was one of the more unpleasant tasks, as everyone had some squeamishness to the process. In time, riders generally got accustomed to the task, but some never fully got used to it. But this was necessary even as he had to step in and help a couple of weyrlings get over their nausea and clean them up.

     As he approached the end of the row, it looked like he might have a few more young men to have to help. But as he got closer, he noticed they didn't seem to have a problem with their own work, but that of T'khill's.

     Now _what are they doing?_ K'der wondered as he sped up his pace. He stopped when he saw that T'khill had removed the wherry's head and neck and was busily hacking away at the skull. His dragon, Stealth, was eagerly waiting for his food. Maleer was there, too, which K'der thought odd. She didn't look ill from the unorthodox butchering, nor was she reacting to T'khill's handling of the creature's organs, even as his own stomach was beginning to churn.

     "T'khill," K'der slowly spoke out after several moments as he stepped over to them. Didn't the man notice his dragon was getting jumpy waiting for the messy treats? "Is there something you're looking for?" he asked when the other man looked up.

     "Signs of intelligence," T'khill calmly replied as he finally tossed the material to his dragon. K'der started and even Maleer winced. Finally, K'der nodded and turned to walk away.

     _No,_ K'der concluded. _I was wrong. He_ does _have a sense of humor. A very_ odd _one!_

 

     _That was_ not _a verry wise thing to tell him!_ Maleer sent.

     _It was the truth,_ T'khill replied. _I'm concerned about feeding a sentient to Stealth. I have to be proven the creature is a moron animal._

     "'Convinced the crreaturre is a dumb animal'," Maleer muttered under her breath, shaking her head. "He's getting worse!" she said to Stealth. "That's _two_ in one sentence!"

     "You know, that sending frrom Rryuu had a lot of pain in it," she said to take her mind off correcting T'khill's speech. "I wonderr what has happened."

     T'khill paused in the middle of hacking off a forelimb to think. "Why not we call him a buzz?" he asked.

     "'Why don't we _give_...'!" Maleer broke off, unable to continue, and burst out laughing as she shook her head. T'khill stared at her for a few moments before shrugging his shoulders and resumed hacking at the limb.

     Finally, she was able to get herself under control.

     "I-I'll trry a prrivate sending," she told him.

     _Rryuu!_ she sent. _Arre you alrright?_

     _Yes, I am now,_ Ryuu replied somewhat distractedly. _I could use some chase music right about now. I'm flying the white one!_

     _Ryuu!_ Stealth roared. _Stop hurting my friends!_

     _Rrryuu!_ Maleer exclaimed in shock. _I underrstand that the white one is a MALE drragon! I didn't think you werre that way!_

     _I'm NOT!_ Ryuu responded testily. _Just a horond, M'leer,_ he told her.

     "Stealth, please keep quiet! He can't hear you!" Maleer told the dragon while Ryuu was busy. "He's too far for you to reach him."

     _Catch me if you can, kid, and I'll tell you,_ Maleer heard Ryuu send the white. _Otherwise, Ruth, you'll just have to settle for eating my vortices!_

     _Puma and I had a little problem with some of the locals,_ Ryuu told her, resuming his private sending. _We were attacked and forced to use the Gateway, but she's got Robinton's Second-story Man and his native with her and I've got Ruth on my tail! I'm trying to pull him away before others--Frack--they've just showed up! Hopefully they'll investigate that creep I tore up!_

     _I can hear him!_ Stealth protested. _He can hear me! Ryuu! I don't_ like _you! Get him, Ruth! He hurts my friends!_

     "Stealth! Please!" T'khill stepped in to try silencing the bronze. "Squit! Here comes Killdare!"

     _Is therre anything we can do?_ Maleer asked.

     _Not much!_ Ryuu sent back. _We've lost our transponders, communicators, and weapons, while the natives have their_ between _! Now comes the tricky part!_

     "What _is_ his problem?" K'der demanded when he arrived to confront them.

     _She speaks to Ryuu!_ Stealth shouted. _Ryuu hears her! I'm trying to tell Ryuu to stop hurting my friends! He can't hear me!_

     "Who is this 'Ryuu'?" K'der shouted when Warth passed what the hatchling said.

     "I really don't know what we could tell you," T'khill lamely said. To his dragon, he urged the bronze to stop talking about it.

     "Me, eitherr," Maleer said shrugging her shoulders.

     _Ryuu said Ruth is chasing him!_ Stealth insistently shouted.

     "Ruth?" K'der exclaimed. "But he's at Fort, or in that Hold! Ruatha!" he added, remembering the name of the place. "You finish feeding Stealth and then the three of you report to me! I'm going to get to the bottom of this!"

     "That's just grreat!" Maleer spat as the dragonrider walked away.

     _Are you angry with me?_ Stealth asked anxiously. _I'm sorry!_

     "Stealth, you have to understand!" T'khill told the dragon as he threw globs into the creature's maw.

     _I wanted Ryuu to stop hurting you!_ Stealth replied as he chewed his food. _He won't listen to me!_

     "You shouldn't talk with your mouth full, Stealth!" T'khill admonished him. "You might choke!"

     Both Maleer and Stealth looked at him in confusion.

     "T'khill!" Maleer protested. "He's a _telepath_!"

     _The augmented native actually has something of an ego!_ Ryuu suddenly sent to her, _Good! I know just the ticket to keep him interested enough to_ stay _'busy'._

     _C'mon, Ruth!_ she heard Ryuu broadcast, taunting his pursuer. _If you can't_ catch _me, at least try to_ keep up _!_

     _That_ doesn't _sound like the most effective way to evade the crreaturre!_ Maleer sent back.

     _Tell him_ he's _just gotten us in trouble!_ Stealth scream at her. _AGAIN!_

     "I think I'd betterr wait to tell him _that_!" Maleer shot at the bronze. "Perrhaps a few yearrs! Orr decades! Maybe betterr afterr a few _millennia_!"

 

Over-flying Nabol:

     _What is your name?_ Ruth demanded and Ryuu looked back over his shoulders and grinned.

     _Don't you know?_ Ryuu asked as they flew up a canyon. _We've met before. I'm rather disappointed that you don't remember. Maybe you should ask Beauty when she gets back._

     _I don't understand!_ Ruth cried. _A dragon would not do these things! How did Ryuu Impress a gold? Where are you from? Why did you flame those people? Why do you flame at all? Don't you want to help us fight Thread? A queen should not eat firestone!_

     _Hey, Ruth! Have you ever pulled a 'Yeager'?_ Ryuu asked, diving for a stone bridge spanning the gorge.

 

     Ruth followed, but when he saw the gold dragon aiming to fly between the pylons, he flew up away from the dragon.

     _What are you doing?_ Ruth screamed. _That's too small for your wings!_ Instead of veering off, however, the gold dragon folded her wings and vanished beneath the bridge. There was a small puff of dust from the roadway on the span, but the dragon didn't emerge from the other side.

     Fearful, but confirming he hadn't heard her go _between_ , Ruth landed on the stone bridge and looked over the far side. Indeed, there was no dragon, injured or not, lying there. Confused, the white dragon hop-stepped over to the other side and looked over. Again no dragon lay at the bottom of the ravine. Oddly, he did smell something like blood and as he leaned over to investigate, his mind only just had time to register that gold scaled talons gripped the stone masonry before a tusked gold snout shot out from underneath to lick him on the nose.

 

     _You're cute!_ Ryuu shouted at the white dragon.

     Startled, Ruth sat back hard on his tail and the white watched impotently as Ryuu launched out from beneath the structure and executed that flip he had intended back when they had first met last week.

     _Was it only six days ago?_ Ryuu momentarily wondered.

 

     When he could, Ruth launched to give chase again, determined more than ever to catch this creature. By this time, the gold had over a dozen dragonlengths advantage on him.

     _I wish you were female, Ruth!_ The gold called back. _We could have_ LOTS _more fun then!_

     Ruth blinked in confusion at that and this allowed the gold to gain altitude on him as well. Then he felt drops of rain striking him. Puzzled that there were no rain clouds, he glanced at himself and nearly tumbled at seeing it was red blood!

 

     Ryuu glanced down at the irritation from his hands and saw where catching the stone bridge hadn't been as clean as it could have been. He had suffered a bit of damage and had some bleeding rips, but nothing serious. However, as he idly watched drops fall from his claws, he noted how Ruth reacted and tried to dodge the bloody rain.

     _Oh bloody shit!_ he cursed as he suddenly felt his mind reeling. _Not another flashback! Not_ NOW _!_

 

Chicago, Terra, 1990:

     Dragon had started out life as a human and his last memories as a human were as a sailor serving on a U. S. Navy warship. But when and alien force abducted his ship, he was returned to his birth world transformed as the mythological creature he took as his own name.

     Neither he, Sherri, Yoko, nor the others at the time knew of their link to each other. Indeed, even after three years, Dragon and Sherri weren't even aware of the existence of the Gateway they possessed. But Yoko had learned.

     In the course of looking for answers, Dragon had begun a vigilante career of eliminating local drug lords as a means to secure funds. Fate brought him to encounter Sherri, who was unaware that anything untoward had ever occurred to her three years prior. But she had unwittingly become involved with a gangster that Dragon had decided to eliminate. Believing the police could protect her, she reported what she had seen kill her fiancé. Only this made her a target for the Mob. They tried to grab her at the police station.

     But the Dragon had just thwarted both the police from getting any information about him and the drug lords seeking revenge by breaking Sherri out of custody. He would've gotten away and dealt with the unwilling woman had it not been for the fact that Yoko was working for the mob...

     _Oh, flaming shit!_ Dragon cursed, instantly making a dive for the ground, eliciting protests from Sherri.

     _It's another dragon!_ he told her, ending her complaints. He back winged to land, but as he didn't dare take his eyes off of the other, the landing was rough. Sherri went sprawling on the ground as Dragon rose back into the air.

     "What other dragon?" she demanded when she regained her feet. Then she saw it. Longer than the first dragon, it came in flaming at him, and he barely dodged out of the way in time. This one had a wingless Oriental appearance, while the first dragon was Western. The winged dragon tried to pull their fight away from where Sherri had been deposited.

     _This is not going to be fun,_ Dragon thought to himself, as he pulled a L.A.W. from a vest he wore. The bigger dragon completed its turn, and was headed back at him.

     _Who are you!_ he demanded, desperately trying to maintain distance as he fumbled with the weapon. Just then, inexplicably, he felt tremendous pain all over, as if he were being ripped apart. The bigger dragon halved the distance between them.

     _Telepathic assault!_ Dragon realized, shaking his head as he closed his mind to the sensations. How many times had he used just such a weapon against his own victims? Experiencing their pain as he tortured them, and then using the memories of that pain to inflict on future victims before doing any physical damage. On some occasions, it was enough to stop a captive's heart. And now that same weapon was being used on him!

     But, he knew _that_ pain was only an illusion. It could do no actual damage.

     _On the other hand,_ this _can,_ he growled. Folding his wings against his back, he suddenly spun about in the air, letting his momentum carry him on. He took quick aim with the L.A.W., and before the closing dragon knew how to respond, he fired it.

     The antitank shell ripped off the big dragon's right arm. Screaming and mortally wounded, the larger dragon fell from the sky.

     After a minor altercation where Dragon learned of the Gateway, Yoko decided to join up with him. She taught him how to operate the Gateway. Together, they quickly approached Sherri and set her up with the means to establish a new life for her and then departed, never suspecting Sherri was indeed linked with the Gateway.

     It took a chance encounter centuries later for them to join forces. Over the years, Dragon and Yoko changed identities nearly as often as they changed forms. By then, they had already joined with the Caitians. Later, T'khill joined Sherri, and the two began hunting for Ryuu and Puma, then known as Snake and Cat.

 

Present Pass:

     Ryuu shook himself off. Motion caught his eye and he remembered Ruth was chasing him. In the time he was distracted, the white dragon had gained over a hundred horamters on him.

     _I hate it when that happens!_ he hissed. But the flashback did give him an idea.

     Ryuu quickly dove for the treetops and snatched a few handfuls of twigs and leaves as he skimmed over them. Ruth diligently followed him down then back up, but didn't see what Ryuu had grabbed or what he was doing with it as their flight rose back up high into the clear sky. When Ryuu had sufficiently crushed the mass to his desire, he pulled the same move he had on Puma when they first met millennia ago.

     Folding his wings against his back, he suddenly spun about, letting his momentum carry him on through the air. Ruth was puzzled as he quickly approached.

     _Catch, Ruth!_ Ryuu called when the white got within three lengths. The gold dragon tossed the wadded mass at his pursuer. Quickly spreading, the splintered twigs and leaves formed an obscuring cloud that startled the white dragon.

 

     It was too close to go _between_. Panicked, Ruth closed up his wings and eyes, bracing for the impact. It never came. Instead, it was the gold that suddenly screamed.

 

     _What the FLAMING SHIT?_ Ryuu screamed when the cloud of debris suddenly exploded and he felt stings all over his chest, belly, and wings.

 

     Ruth spread his wings and opened his eyes to see what the gold was going on about. He saw her veer off the other way as his momentum caused him to pass her by. He was about to turn and resume his chase, but he noticed Ryuu's dragon trying to examine her wings as she flew. Then he saw the numerous holes in her sails.

     _What happened to you?_ he asked, astonished that she should be hurt in that manner. _How did your wings get hurt?_

 

     Ryuu glared at the white as he pulled an embedded wood chip from his chest. _Some kind of telekinesis,_ he concluded after a bit of thought. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the white pursue him with more caution, apparently distracted as he looked about for the cause of Ryuu's wounds. _But Ruth's evidently unaware that he did this. Curious._

 

     Ruth then saw something that really gave him pause. From the holes in the gold dragon's sails, red liquid started to ooze. _What kind of dragon_ are _you?_ he asked, astonished. The shape of her head, her eyes, her emaciated form, the opacity of her wings, lack of a forked tail, her flaming a human, and finally _this_! The incongruities finally came together to convince him he had been chasing something totally _alien_. Ruth's anger finally faded to utter confusion then wonder, and finally, fear.

     _This is not a dragon gone bad! She's something entirely different from us!_ he realized.

 

     Always one to take advantage of a distracted opponent, even as Ryuu reflected ironically that his distractions usually did _not_ result in damage to himself, he slid into a shallow dive, allowing Ruth to gain on him. He hissed in agony as the wind pulled at the upper and lower wing membranes. Then Ryuu suddenly tilted up, bringing his stinging wings out to fully break his momentum. As Ruth dipped to pass under and avoid colliding, Ryuu brought his tail up and pulled his wings in, executing a perfect back flip.

 

     Ruth blinked in surprise at seeing the gold complete the unorthodox move and spread her wings _behind_ him! _She_ was now chasing _him_!

     _Let's see what you've got, Ruth!_ the creature called out. _You've got some good moves to keep up with me! How about you lead for a bit?_ the gold called as she pumped her wings to get her speed back up.

     Ruth couldn't believe it! He was starting to become scared of this insane queen. She had been _playing_ with him from the beginning! And he shook in fear. _Playing with him as her rider had played with Dorse!_

 

     _Hey, kid!_ Ryuu called with a roar. _Time to kick in the turbos!_ He emphasized his challenge by snapping his jaws near Ruth's tail. The action was purely bluff, as Ryuu had no desire to harm the white dragon, but it did scare Ruth as he intended. Only the result was not what he needed as Ruth went _between_!

     _Oh_ FRACK _! No flaming fucking fair!_ Ryuu hissed. He looked behind and up. The space was still empty, but he could tell that a few thousand horamters away, Ruth was going to show up in less than seven horonds. _And he's quite likely to start screaming for reinforcements! No way I can counter_ that _!_ he considered. Then his eyes widened as he sensed the presence of others already in the area. _Reinforcements? Hmm--maybe I just_ can _, at that!_

     Not knowing that their flight had carried them over Nabol, nor knowing of the significance of the recent history to the Hold, he sensed the fire-lizards the former Lord Meron provided to his holders to maintain their loyalty.

     _Frack and flame me!_ Ryuu exclaimed glancing past were Ruth was going to show up. _And they're here already! This is definitely going to require a tricky move!_

 

     Ruth reappeared above and behind the gold dragon, too far for her to make any dangerous moves on him again. He was about to call for help to deal with this creature when he heard the gold make her own call as soon as he had come out of _between_.

     _Hey, everyone! Look who's here! Come up and say 'Hi!' to Ruth!_ she yelled.

     Instantly, dozens of fire-lizards appeared about the white, fouling his vision. In the time Ruth asked the fire-lizards to depart so he could continue his chase, Ryuu's gold had doubled back on him and came to hover right in front of the white's face.

     Stunned, Ruth looked in shock at the gold hanging there with her red lined gullet pointed straight at him and her eyes a brilliant crimson.

     _Hi Ruth! Sa-a-ay 'cheese'!_ she yelled.

 

     "N'ton!" Jaxom called when the dragonriders reappeared over him. "Ruth said he's chasing a gold dragon!"

     "Really?" N'ton exclaimed as Lioth landed near him. "Tricky devil! I didn't know there was a gold ready to rise and _now_ he's decided to get interested?"

     "That's not what I mean!" Jaxom said in annoyance as he settled in front of the bronze rider. "Ruth says she's Ryuu's! And that she's flamed some people!" he added with a satisfied feeling as N'ton's face registered his shock.

     Suddenly, Lioth and the other dragons roared as Jaxom's face went pale.

     _Ruth says the gold is chasing him now!_ Lioth told his rider. _The white one is frightened!_

     "Where is he?" N'ton asked as the great bronze dragon leapt into the air.

     "He's gone _between_!" Jaxom exclaimed.

     "Maybe he's gone to evade her," N'ton suggested. "Lioth, get ready to listen for Ruth to come out of _between_ and go _there_!"

     _I hear him! I see where he is! I'm directing the others!_ Lioth announced.

     Just then, Jaxom heard Ruth scream.

     "RUTH!" he cried. There were several heart-stopping moments where he couldn't tell if something happened to his friend.

     "Jaxom! Are you okay?" N'ton asked.

     _She's gone!_ Ruth suddenly called out.

     "What happened?" Jaxom asked.

     _She went_ between _...I think,_ Ruth sounded uncertain. _But I've never seen a dragon go_ between _like that! There was a bright flash of light and she's just--gone! It didn't_ feel _like she went_ between _, though. I can't hear where or when she went!_

     "Bright flash of light?" N'ton asked astonished. "Ryuu must still be somewhere near. Jaxom! Tell Ruth to get out of there! He's dangerous!"

     The white dragon soon reappeared with the other dragonriders.

     "Ruth! What did you think you were doing?" N'ton demanded. "Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again!"

     _I'm sorry!_ Ruth meekly replied. _I saw that the gold was flying away from where Snap had directed us. But no one else was about. I thought that she should have some idea what happened but she was going to be gone before the rest of you showed up!_

     "He said--" Jaxom began, but N'ton tapped him on the shoulder to stop.

     "I got it from Lioth," the Weyrleader explained. "Alright then, we'll discuss this later. Right now, Ruth, take us to where you last saw the gold. Wait! Better, yet, can you take us to _when_ you last saw the gold?"

     "Can you do that?" Jaxom asked his dragon astonished that N'ton would ask for such a thing.

     _I think so,_ Ruth replied. _It seems like a simple thing to do._

     They showed up above the pair of dueling dragons. The earlier Ruth was surrounded by fire-lizards and the gold had just got into position to flame him when there was a bright flash and they heard the white dragon scream. Everyone had to blink several times before they could see past the green spots in their eyes and by then, they watched as Ruth disappeared.

     _I had my eyes shut this time,_ Ruth said from beside Lioth. _But I still didn't see what happened to Ryuu's gold!_

     After searching the area, however, they had no clue of what happened or how Ryuu or that strange dragon had pulled off that stunt.

     "Are you alright?" Jaxom quietly asked while the others searched. "You've never timed it before! What's it like?"

     _It's simple!_ Ruth said. _Not so much different from regular_ between _._

     "Ruth! Jaxom!" N'ton said rushing up on them. "You are _never_ to _time_ it unless a Weyrleader specifically authorizes it!" Then he had to chuckle at their expressions. "Lioth heard you talking about it. But you have to understand this is very serious. Ryuu evidently is a very dangerous individual and not only that, he's Impressed a queen! Lessa's going to lay her _own_ clutch when she hears about _this_!"

     The whole time they were there, they never noticed one peculiar gold fire-lizard sitting in a tree among dozens of others watching the activity. Only this fire-lizard had solid red eyes and long protruding white tusks.

     Eventually, they admitted defeat and left.

 

Ista Weyr:

     After they finished feeding Stealth, K'der instructed them to clean all rags used to oil the dragons to prevent spontaneous combustion.

     "What do you think he's going to do?" T'khill asked about K'der.

     "I suspect he may go to the otherr rregional capitol to find out what he can about Rryuu," Maleer replied. "I think we betterr plan to evacuate quickly!"

     "They've got their Seeing-eye Dragon watching us," T'khill pointed out. "We can't exactly call for a transport while under their stares." Maleer let that one pass without comment.

 

     "D'ram, I need to talk with you about that weyrling, T'khill," K'der said, coming up to the Weyrleader's table during their dinner.

     "Have a seat," D'ram indicated. "What can I do for you?"

     "It's about his dragon, Stealth," K'der blurted out, uncertain how to explain his concern. "I'm seeing some very strange behavior with the bronze."

     "Well, you know hatchlings," D'ram said chuckling. "They'll scream at anything new. And to them, everything is!"

     "It's more than that," K'der said frowning. "The little thing keeps going on about someone or something called 'Ryuu', keeps saying Ryuu's hurting his rider and that wife of his. And I've watched them. Every once in awhile, I've seen them both jump, as though something surprised them and instantly Stealth goes crazy. I've watched them make efforts to keep the dragon from having one of his outbursts, but the poor thing looks distressed something fierce."

     "Any idea who or what this 'Ryuu' is?" D'ram asked, beginning to get concerned.

     "Not really," K'der complained. "Although, I have just heard something about 'Ruth was chasing Ryuu' a few moments ago from Stealth."

     "Ruth!" D'ram exclaimed. "The white? But I thought he was at Ruatha or at Fort to get training for flying _between_!"

     "That's what I remembered, too," K'der said. "Maybe you can have a word with N'ton about this when you see him, will you?"

     "Yes, I will," D'ram said.

     "One more thing," K'der said, "and this is going to sound strange, but Stealth was saying Maleer was able to 'speak' to Ryuu and Ryuu was 'speaking' back, but that Stealth couldn't make himself heard."

     "Assuming 'Ryuu' is a person, that's impossible!" D'ram said frowning in confusion. "And 'Ryuu' as a dragon? There's _never_ been a dragon with a name like _that_!"

     "That's what's so strange about it!" K'der said.

     "What do Maleer and T'khill say about this?" D'ram asked.

     "They're saying they don't know anything," K'der replied. "I've got them cleaning the oiling rags. But I'm having riders and dragons keep an eye on them. Do you have any idea when you'll get the chance to speak with N'ton?"

     "There's a Weyrleader Conclave coming up next sevenday," D'ram said. "I'll bring it up then."

     "Thank you, D'ram," K'der said getting up from the table.

     "Sure," D'ram replied.

 

Fort Weyr:

     Lisa listened closely as first Ruth and then several bronze dragons jumped away. When she concentrated, she could follow any dragon she chose, and she soon learned that the white one was pursuing Ryuu. She had this tremendous dread that nearly paralyzed her that her tormentor would actually be caught.

     _What will that monster do to poor Ruth if the white one catches him?_ she worried. _Please, Ruth! Be careful!_ she wanted to send, but kept the thought to herself. Lisa put her full attention on Ruth's mind so she saw what he did and was astonished by Ryuu's dragon form. She was familiar with this type of dragon so different from the Pernese model. She wondered once more if she was making a horrible mistake in pursuing the Pernese gold dragon in the egg in her effort to evade the aliens chasing her.

     "What have I done?" she fearfully whispered.

     Then, through Ruth's eyes, she saw Ryuu flame a couple of people, although she couldn't be sure if one of them survived. She was chilled from what she heard Ruth and Ryuu discuss. That Ryuu was capable of murder was not unexpected. But the viciousness that he displayed was horrifying, and Lisa was now more concerned than ever for the white one's safety.

     She heard the gold dragon call to Ruth and the references the alien used tugged at some vague memories. Then Ryuu dove to fly beneath the stone bridge and she suddenly remembered: Yeager was a pilot from Terra's early years of aviation and the man had a panache for engaging in stunts with the ancient jets, _including flying under bridges!_ Even so, the evasive tactic Ryuu used surprised her as well as Ruth. She hadn't expected him to hide _under_ the bridge like that!

     _So this Ryuu is also familiar with Terran history!_ she suddenly realized as she followed the resumed chase. Lisa grew fearful when Ruth rapidly gained on the apparently distracted alien dragon, but Ryuu shook himself out of his trance and veered off, dropping to the treetops. The mass that Ryuu threw at Ruth startled her as well as the dragon, but the white one wasn't touched and that relieving fact suddenly nagged at her. _Why was the alien upset, and how did he suddenly get injured?_

     Then that chaotic moment came when the alien swapped places with Ruth and began chasing him, then the white one went _between_. She sensed Ruth appeared in two places at once and Lisa was confused even at that terrifying instant where it looked like Ryuu was about to flame the Pernese dragon. The jolt from Ryuu's Changing obliterated her concentration and she feared the worse.

     Only it didn't make sense! She had _felt_ Ruth _time_ it! Gingerly, Lisa sent out her mind to search for the white and was relieved that he was unharmed. But, as she followed their search for Ryuu, she was as puzzled as the dragons and their riders. She had seen how vicious Ryuu could be yet he had spared the white one's life! He had used the flare of the _Change_ to blind the dragons and their riders to escape them. Evidently, Ryuu would stay hidden until they gave up and he could resume his search for her.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     Tuck and Snap nervously sat on the floor on one side of the huge chamber. The walls and floor felt like metal and very bright glows lit the interior. They wisely stayed away from the other occupants of the room: Wolf, Arye, and the gold creature that claimed to be a dragon.

     _We have to be ready to pull him up as soon as he calls us,_ the creature sending with Puma's voice was insisting.

     "But how are we to lock on to him with nothing to signal us?" Arye asked.

     "Ryuu is, if nothing else, rather resourceful," a disembodied voice announced. "I'm sure he will find a way to let me know how to locate him."

     "So what do we do with these two?" Wolf asked, glaring at the man and the fire-lizard.

     _Ryuu said sit on them,_ the gold creature said.

     "Sit on them?" Wolf snorted, approaching them menacingly. "I can do that!" There was a bright, blinding flash and Tuck wasn't able to see for several seconds. But he did hear Snap scream and go limp on his shoulder. When he could see again, he figured out why.

     This creature was _definitely_ a dragon but with subtle differences from the kind he knew. The most notable was this creature had scales that were a bright blood-red color, and that it was actually quite a bit larger than Ramoth!

     Suddenly, the monster's head swung away as it growled in annoyance.

     _Ryuu is calling! He's just used the Gateway again!_ the creature announced with Wolf's voice. You _stay right there and stay quiet!_ the red dragon snarled at the little gold queen fire-lizard. Snap trembled and hid her face in Tuck's neck.

     " _Panthro_! Lower Psionic screens!" Arye yelled. "Go ahead, Ryuu! We're open!" she said after a few moments. She stood by a table of some sort near the sliding door at the far wall.

     "We've got you," Arye announced. " _Panthro_ , can you lock on to the life form at the point of the flaming arrow?"

     _Panthro?_ Tuck remembered that was the person Ryuu had been talking to when he had been captured by the renegade! _So_ that _one is somewhere in this strange hold, speaking from a hidden room connected to here._

     "Affirmative," the disembodied voice announced. "Initiating transport." A humming noise began in the dais that took up much of the other end of the chamber. It sounded so much like fire-lizards attending a hatching that Snap roused from her faint blinking in confusion. Gold sparkling smoke formed in the space above the platform that grew in substance and shape to eventually take on the appearance of a gold dragon before the humming and sparkles faded. It was the dragon Tuck had seen after Ryuu had died and now he suspected it _was_ Ryuu!

     The newly arrived creature glared at him as it stepped off the platform to converse with the others.

     Panthro _raise Temporal and Psionic screens,_ Ryuu told the ship.

     _He give you any problems?_ Ryuu asked Wolf.

     _Not yet,_ the red dragon said grinning with lots of long sharp teeth showing.

     _Well the first thing we need to do is ascertain what he knows and decide what to do about it,_ Ryuu said approaching the Harper.

     _Eat them?_ Wolf asked grinning.

     _If we can avoid that. I don't want to hurt the native,_ Ryuu said.

     "What kind of creatures are you?" Tuck nervously asked.

     _Well, as you can see, we're_ not _like your little friend there,_ Ryuu said flicking his tongue. He raised a taloned hand and applied the sharply pointed claws to various spots on Tuck's face. _Now, just hold still. This won't hurt a bit._

     Ryuu sat there and mentally probed Tuck's mind for several minutes. Tuck felt his memories inexplicably shift to his childhood, his days as an apprentice, journeyman, and finally as a master. He recalled the missions that he went on, first under his mentor, known as Nip, and then more recently with Pinch, his own protégé in training. Finally, the dragon leaned back on its haunches and Tuck saw that while the pose was similar to the one which the Weyrs' dragons would sometimes take, this one's arms still reached to the floor!

     _Well! We certainly know a lot more about their culture now!_ Ryuu said looking back at the others. _We should've done this days ago. It would've saved us a lot of embarrassing moments._

     "We _did_ try that once!" Arye snapped at him. "Only those little lizards interrupted our plans!"

     _So what next?_ Puma asked.

     _Wipe his memory and set him back on the planet with a plausible explanation planted in his mind,_ Ryuu replied turning back to face Tuck and Snap. Suddenly, the fire-lizard became agitated.

     _Please don't hurt him!_ she screamed, flapping her wings. Ryuu cocked his head to look at her.

     _I'm not going to hurt him,_ he explained to her. _He should not know about us. But this is the only way to return you home and let us continue with our mission._

     _Please!_ Snap begged. _He'll be good! I promise!_

     _Would you let him know what is_ between _?_ Ryuu asked her and she stopped to think about it.

     _If they knew they would fear us,_ she acknowledged. _But some would keep quiet._ He _would stay quiet if_ he _knew!_ Nothing _is_ between _!_ Tuck looked at her in confusion, unable to follow what she meant.

     _Well, Harper,_ Ryuu said to him after thinking about it for several minutes. _What shall it be? Can I trust you to work for us? Or should I wipe your mind and you never saw me like this?_

     Tuck looked nervously at the other dragons and Arye standing there.

     _Don't look to them for help!_ Ryuu snapped at him. _Their choice is to eliminate you permanently!_ I'm _your only friend here! And I'm only giving you this option for_ her _sake! She's putting a lot of faith in you to keep your mouth shut and to say what we_ want _you to tell them!_

     "What would you have me do?" Tuck nervously asked.

     _Tell me what your people know about us and what you planned to tell them if you_ could _get back,_ Ryuu began. _And don't bother to lie to me! I'm a telepath! You should be familiar with what that means!_

 


	7. Part 7

**Part 7:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.28, Southern Coast:

     _Master Robinton,_

     _The situation is still unresolved. Ryuu and his people haven't been seen since the last sevenday when they encountered Thella._

     _The nearest we can deduce is that Wolf and Arye tracked Ryuu, Puma, and Tuck until they encountered Thella. We know they tried that tactic of using themselves as bait once before when Flynn's men nearly ambushed them at the gather. Ryuu might have tried that again._

     _However, we don't know exactly what happened when they all met. Tuck's queen fire-lizard was waiting with N'ton when she suddenly disappeared. A few moments later, she came back to Fort Weyr screaming for help and telling us that Ryuu was badly hurt. Ruth jumped_ between _with her and he reported that when he arrived, no one but that small gold dragon was about and that he had to give chase before the others arrived._

     _We figure that Wolf got involved and that may have helped chase off Thella's gang. But why Tuck never reported and hasn't been seen since, no one knows._

     _The forest fire was finally put out with a little help from Thread. N'ton decided to try letting some clumps of Thread to fall on the area of the fire to eat away the trees feeding the flames, and T'bor concurred. It worked and the fire helped restrict the burrow._

     _Afterwards, we found the bodies of several murdered people in a cave. We think that Thella was the one who killed them. N'ton found footprints that matched her group, but none that could be identified as coming from Ryuu or his people. There was only one human trace with several runners that left the area before the fire._

 

     Thella limped along the plains of Keroon, leaving the last of her dead runners behind. The fever from the infection hadn't abated and she was suffering from thirst as well as her aching joints. But she couldn't stop to rest. That crazy queen dragon might be close by.

     Startled by a noise, she whirled with her knife ready. It was nothing, she determined after several moments. Still, spooked by the visit as she lay feverish several nights ago, she pressed on.

     After she caught up with the rest of her band, she had kept quiet, letting the others expend their energies arguing about the strange man and the stranger dragon. In the end, they had no more idea what had happened than she had. But that was irrelevant. After they had gone to sleep, she quietly went to them one by one, slitting their throats. She considered them all liabilities if they were going to retreat without her giving the order.

     As she left the cavern leading several runners, the beasts smelled the smoke from the fire started by the gold dragon and bolted. She was only able to hold onto two.

     Before the dawn of the next day, however, her face felt hot and sore. Angry red welts with oozing puss began to form all over her face and wherever else that blast had cut her. Fortunately, her clothing had greatly protected most of her body. In addition, she started to develop a fever. She kept pushing her mounts through the night and the following day to cross the Telgar plains where she managed to find shelter in an abandoned mine in the Central Mountain Ridge. It was one of the caves she had previously mapped out during her journey west.

     But by then, the fever had caught her in full. Her entire body burned with fever and her sleep was constantly interrupted as her body convulsed with spasms.

     Then, in the middle of one of the agonizing surges flowing through her frame, Thella sensed a presence in the cavern. Fumbling for her blade, she blinked in the darkness, looking for her foe. Suddenly a searing fire lanced through her mind. When she came to, she could only make out featureless glowing blue plains all around her.

     _My! My!_ a voice in her mind sounded. _Aren't we a pretty sight?_

     "Who are you?" she shouted.

     _No need to yell,_ the voice said. _I can hear you quite clearly._

     "Where are you?" she screamed.

     _Well, do as you wish,_ the voice continued. _It's only your ears that are going to get hurt._

     _As for who I am, I'm disappointed you've forgotten me so quickly. It's not every day one has a flaming dragon do a strafe-and-run on them...and most certainly not many who_ survive _it..._

     Despite her fever, Thella felt her spine grow cold. She turned about and then looked up to see where the blue light was coming from and she gasped in horror.

     There above her, as though she was looking out through a faceted gem, was the gold dragon glaring at her, its image multiplied through the facets of the "sky".

     _That's right. It's me,_ the dragon told her. _As for where I am, I'm still quite some distance away, but I have linked directly to your mind so we can talk. No need to worry at this moment. I'm not interested in killing you right away. That wouldn't be "sporting"._

     _But it does seem you picked up a bit of an infection when I turned your companion into a fine red mist. Nasty thing when you get that stuff under your skin. Worst case of acne I've seen on a person in a long while. You might want to consider going to a healer to get that looked at. Or at the very least, you can squeeze out the puss yourself, although it might hurt a bit more._

     "Wh-wh-why are y-y-you telling me th-this?" Thella asked.

     _I want you to get better so that you can better entertain me while I hunt you,_ it said slowly grinning at her. _There's an old saying I'm fond of: 'Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold!'_ Bon Appetíte _, Bitch!_

     After that, she struggled to keep running. And every night, she worked at cleaning out her own infected skin, fearful of the dragon's return. She couldn't get rid of the image of those wicked gleaming red eyes with their strange slitted silver pupils.

 

     _As you might imagine, Lessa was livid over finding out Ryuu Impressed a gold dragon. It didn't help that Ruth suggested she "might be a deformed creature like himself". Lord Jaxom is worried and scared about her reaction, but she doesn't even notice. She only thinks of Ryuu and what he's up to. But with no sign of the man or his accomplices continuing on toward Telgar or doubling back to lay in wait near Ruatha, it's understandable Lessa would be nervous._

 

     "I don't want to ever again hear you use that word to describe yourself, Ruth!" Lessa snapped at the white dragon. "You are most certainly NOT deformed!"

     Jaxom, although pleased that Lessa would think so, winced as she admonished Ruth. He was very mindful that Lytol, Sebell, N'ton, and the Benden Weyrleaders thought this was such a serious issue.

     "It is very odd that a queen dragon would be that small," F'lar commented. "From what Ruth told us about her size, she wouldn't even be a full Turn. At that age, she shouldn't be able to do anything more than eat and sleep, much less out-fly him!"

     "What about the fire the gold started?" Sebell asked. "He said the flame _splashed_!"

     "He had to be mistaken on what he saw," N'ton explained. "Dragonflame, even from a queen, would be dragonflame. It's a gas, not a liquid."

     _But I_ did _see her flame!_ Ruth protested.

     _Ruth,_ Mnementh quietly sent to him. _I have seen that dragon before! Ryuu told me he could actually change into such a creature!_

     _What are you saying?_ Ruth asked astonished. Lioth and Ramoth also looked nervously at the large bronze.

     _I don't believe that Ryuu has Impressed a dragon,_ Mnementh whispered, mindful to try keeping Lessa from hearing. _Ryuu told me of something he calls the 'Gateway'. Ryuu said it is perhaps related to_ between _. We mustn't tell our riders of this!_

     Nothing _is_ between _!_ Lioth and Ramoth agreed. Ruth felt bad.

     _Have I compromised_ between _?_ he worriedly asked.

     _Only time will tell,_ Ramoth gently told him as she watched Lessa stomping about in fury.

 

     _The unnerving thing about this is the description Ruth gave matches that dragon I saw in my dreams._

     _Speaking of which, I tried having others play that music, too. The experience left Domick a little shaken but he says that was an excellent piece. He agrees with your assessment that this might be some sort of Question Song. I'm anxious to hear your version when you get back. If we ever do catch Ryuu, I hope to get a chance to speak with him before Lessa does._

     _Let me know if you wish me to bring up the possibility that he might be from our future rather than an Oldtimer. If she considers your idea, she might develop some other theories of what Ryuu intends. With her fixation that he's from Mardra, she can't see past the possibility that he's here to kill the Lord Holder._

     _Somehow, I'm becoming less inclined to think along that direction, but I have no way of guessing what the alternative might be. Lessa and the dragonriders might be able to help there if they were to consider your idea._

     _The eggs at Fort continue to harden and are expected to hatch on time about one or two sevenday from now. Fort continues to locate candidates for Impression. It should be a good showing. We all hope you can make it back in time._

 

     "Mike, I don't think this Kylara is our target," Sherri sighed as they sat alone at an isolated cafeteria table. "She's far too old."

     "But you know there are ways of artificially aging us," Mike protested. "Radiation," he began to count off on his fingers.

     "Mike," Sherri cut in to set aside the whole discussion, "I've gotten word about this woman that she was a dragonrider who lost her mount in some accident. And that it involved Brekke, too. Don't forget _she's_ also on our list. But I don't think Brekke is our target either. That they both were leaving the area at that moment is mere coincidence. I have it on good authority that she's been in this regional capitol since coming from another regional capitol called 'High Reaches' several years ago. She couldn't have come from the city the others had traced our target to."

     "But we should still make certain," Mike said. "Without our scanners, there's no way to be sure. And how do we know that having lost a dragon, she won't try getting another one? Ryuu would try it!"

     "Possibly," Sherri said, fearfully looking about in case someone heard them. However, they were still unobserved. "But if that were so, then why doesn't Brekke show any interest?" she asked. "Besides, several of our other possibilities are, what they call 'candidates', for this 'Impression'," she added to remind the man there were fourteen other faces in that stack of drawings. "We've met three or four such female candidates so far."

     "And they all seem to be too immature for any of them to be our target," Mike said, dismissing them. "We can't forget: she's been around for nearly three thousand years."

     _All but that one girl,_ Sherri thought grimly. _But then she wasn't caught by our hidden cameras._

 

     Lisa shyly smiled at the attentions Jorgun gave her. Like so many apprentices she had seen, this one was incorrigible, but amusing. But it saddened her, too. She could not help but think that in so few Turns, he would be an ancient man and she would still be the same as she was now.

     _But would I?_ she wondered with not a little bit of concern. _Only this time, I might have a dragon, too! And how long will_ she _last?_

     She had seen how Kit Ping Yung had modified the little fire-lizards, whose life spans have never been calculated, to intentionally introduce aging into their genetics. She only hoped her monitors had a good idea how to deal with that creature's eventual aging and death. She didn't want to end up like that Kylara creature.

     And, although Brekke seemed to have adjusted to life without Wirenth, it had been a close call as to whether the healerwoman would've come out of her depression. Only the love of her friends and F'nor's attempt to attack the source of Thread snapped her out of it.

     _No! How can I go through_ that _?_ she agonized over her indecision, shaking her head violently. Jorgun stopped juggling his small pebbles, nearly losing one as he hastily turned toward her.

     "Is anything wrong?" he asked her, concerned that something he did upset her after he had been making such good progress.

     "NO! I CAN'T!" Lisa screamed, rushing out of the female barracks.

     She burst out the door and past a startled K'nebel and was quickly followed by Jorgun. That got the dragonrider into action and he quickly grabbed the candidate.

     "Whoa, there, mister!" the bronze rider yelled. "This area's off limits to you!"

     "Lisa!" Jorgun yelled, squirming to get free and go to her aid. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

     Lisa had stopped when she got outside, fearful she had attracted the wrong attention.

     _No! Ryuu or no Ryuu, aliens chasing me or not,_ she thought, _I mustn't do this! No--wait! Damn it! I wish my tunnel-snakes were here to help me! Maybe they could make sense of him helping that bronze and then going away. But with these aliens looking for me, yes! I have no choice! I have to!_

     "Are you alright, Lisa?" K'nebel's deeper voice and concern penetrated her panic and she looked about and saw that she had gotten Jorgun into trouble.

     "Y-ye-yes-s," she shakily stammered. "I-I'm sorry! Just nervous jitters," she explained, shrugging her shoulders apologetically. "It's not Jorgun's fault. Really."

     "Don't worry, he's in enough trouble for being in the female barracks," K'nebel said, tightening his grip.

     Several other female candidates crowded about the door and gasped in shock. They had been watching as Jorgun tried to amuse Lisa, envious as their own attempts to attract his eye went unanswered. They now watched in frozen horror the way that she repaid his courtesy with such blatant betrayal.

     "Did any of you see this young troublemaker do anything to her?" K'nebel asked.

     "Really, bronze rider, he did nothing wrong!" Lisa protested.

     "It's true!" one of the girls spoke up. "He was just--trying to cheer her up when she--sorry--freaked." The other girls nodded their agreement as to what happened.

     "You all know the rules about staying in separate barracks," K'nebel finally spoke out after considering the matter. "They're there for a reason. But I'll accept your explanation," and he added glaring at Jorgun, "for now. You girls return to your duties while I deal with him!" He turned away, marching the young man beside him.

     "I'm really sorry, bronze rider," Jorgun said as they got out of earshot.

     "Fortunately for you, you have them all vouching for you," K'nebel growled. "Sneaking into their barracks is deserving punishment--still, even if it was for a good cause. Yes, I've noticed how Lisa seems to be depressed about something. And neither I, nor anyone else, have been able to help her. I have seen how you've been able to get her to smile, if only a little."

     "Yes, sir," Jorgun agreed solemnly.

     "As fitting punishment, then young man," K'nebel said pulling him up short, "you'll be polishing every rider's metal work on their riding straps." Jorgun gulped nervously knowing he was getting off easy.

     "Yes, sir," he said, nodding.

 

     _Take care and we all hope to see you soon. If you wish to respond, Kimi will wait for your message._

     _Sebell._

 

     Robinton rolled the skin and absently stroked Sebell's gold fire-lizard while he pondered the implications. He watched Piemur and Menolly work at shifting the cot's collapsed roof so they could get a chance to investigate the structure and try to learn what Ryuu had taken from here.

     "What plots is Ryuu planning, indeed? Still, with all that's happened," he muttered to hear himself think over the excited cries of native and visiting fire-lizards, "I can't help thinking that we've already missed something fundamentally important. And the question still remains: Whatever happened to Master Traller?"

     "Master Robinton!" Piemur yelled. "We've found something!"

     "I'll be right there!" Robinton yelled back. Then to Sebell's queen, he smiled and stroked her neck and said, "Thank you, Kimi. I don't have anything right now, but I'll send Zair with my report later."

     She chirped her understanding and leapt up to fly back to the Harperhall.

     When Robinton arrived in the clearing, he had seen they had levered the roof of the cot off the foundations. Piemur held some devices in his hands, but they were obviously broken.

     "Could Ryuu have gotten some of them before you arrived?" Robinton asked, looking about at the mess on the floor. There were the remains of what looked like a workbench, crushed by the explosion and weight of the roof. Small items, much like those Piemur described and held were scattered about.

     "None of these look in good shape, MasterHarper," Menolly said, picking through the debris. "But Master Fandarel might be able to make something of them."

     "But who made them?" Piemur asked. "And what for?"

     "Maybe our ancestors had problems with the big felines," Robinton suggested after considering the question. "Even if they worked like you described, I don't see how they would've been so useful against Thread. There's too much power, enough to make a hole in stone large enough for a dragon to go through! It's a bit like setting a forest on fire to cook your meal. Like Fandarel would say, not very efficient!"

     "None of them look undamaged," Menolly said, finally standing to brush off her hands on her trousers. "I only hope that if Ryuu did get some of these, that he didn't get so many!"

     "Let's load them up in the boat and we'll take them back with us," Robinton said. "Piemur, I think it's time for you to head for Southern and report back to Toric. We don't want anyone getting suspicious about movements between here and the North. Also, I don't think you should mention this place or what we found."

     "Sure," Piemur acknowledged. "And I'll keep my ears open about the Weyr to see if anyone knows about Ryuu."

     "MasterHarper, I don't feel so good about the trip back," Menolly said looking up at the sky. The weather was as clear as it had been since their trip south, but she frowned nonetheless. "This season's bad for storms."

     "Well, it was fine for our trip down," Robinton pointed out. "And we need to make time if we're going to attend the Hatching at Fort."

     It took them the rest of the morning to load the items they found in the destroyed cot into the skiff. After a brief lunch, Robinton and Menolly set sail as Piemur waved goodbye and set off on his long walk back. Fortunately, his runner, Stupid, was foddered at a nearby holder's dwelling.

 

Harperhall:

     Later, Kimi alerted Sebell to the humming that rose in pitch and volume then faded as inexplicably as it had sounded.

     "Are there some fire-lizard eggs hatching?" Sebell asked his queen.

     _Not hatching,_ the gold fire-lizard replied, equally confused. _Someone comes._

     "What? Who?" Sebell asked as he searched the hall in the direction from which the sound had emanated.

     _Not Ryuu,_ Kimi said, cocking her head. Her explanation, while not very enlightening, did give Sebell a direction of where to look and added urgency to his search. The room Ryuu had used was in this passage! He rushed forward just as he saw Tuck emerge from the doorway.

     "Tuck!" he yelled, startling him. "Shells, man! Where have you been? We've been looking all over Pern for you!"


	8. Part 8

**Part 8.1:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.20, Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "What would you have me do?" Tuck nervously asked as he looked up at the creature glaring down on him. He and Snap looked nervously at the others in the chamber: Arye stood there with a curious expression on her face, a strange flying gold tunnel-snake that sounded like Puma and claimed to _be_ a dragon, and a _red_ dragon that he had seen Wolf transform into.

     _Tell me what your people know about us and what you planned to tell them if you_ could _get back,_ Ryuu began. _And don't bother to lie to me! I'm a telepath! You should be familiar with what that means!_

     "Ryuu," Arye spoke up. "F'ress and V'yir are signaling that they need to transport up."

     _Instruct_ Panthro _to use one of the other Transporter Rooms,_ the dragon told her. _Then instruct them to use the Gateway to go native while we have our visitors. Add that instruction to everyone on the planet. We don't want to compromise anyone else if we can help it._

     Ryuu returned his gaze on his captives while Arye spoke to the ship's computer.

     _You stay right there and not a peep out of you while the Psionic screens are down,_ he told the little fire-lizard. Snap began to tremble as she hid her face in Tuck's shoulder.

     "Why are you hurting her?" Tuck asked, equally fearful.

     _I'm not hurting her,_ Ryuu said glaring at him. _I'm keeping her from_ getting _hurt. And if_ you _want to avoid getting hurt, you will follow her lead._

     _And you can forget about asking any of these others for support. That is not in your best interest. They wouldn't mind seeing you disposed of quite permanently. I am the_ only _being standing between you and death for both you and Snap._

     "What kind of creatures are you?" Tuck asked.

     _As you might have figured out by now, we're not from Pern,_ Ryuu said, showing a toothy grin. The dragon suddenly shuddered and all amusement left his face. _But I'm still waiting for you to tell me about what your people are thinking we are about._

     "Ryuu, they're aboard and the Psionic screens are back up," Arye reported.

     _Thank you,_ he replied nodding to her. _Well, MasterHarper Traller?_

     Tuck gulped nervously. He had never revealed his real name to Ryuu and no one that knew it would've let Ryuu or his people know, but the dragon had effortlessly figured it out. Then he remembered the last time Ryuu had captured him, Ryuu hadn't known his name.

     _That's right,_ Ryuu slowly said showing his toothy grin again. _Now while it's true I'm not a telepath while I'm not a dragon, I am quite a capable telepath when I_ am _one. And don't forget, you saw how hard it is to kill me. Remember what happened to Chornal, the last man back there?_

     Tuck did remember and it sickened him when he thought about how the gold dragon savaged him.

     _Moreover, as a dragon, we all can record the pain our victims feel and make others experience that pain,_ Ryuu added meaningfully.

     Snap whined as she hid her face and Tuck had a fleeting thought of these creatures being insane but quickly tried to suppress it. The hovering gold tunnel-snake whirled about and hissed while the red dragon snorted. Ryuu only tilted his head as the toothy grin disappeared.

     _No, we're not insane,_ Ryuu calmly explained. _We're just different from what you're used to._ She _knows what we can do and while Snap wishes to protect you, she knows that she can't. That doesn't mean we intend to harm you, however. What happens is entirely up to you._

     Snap lifted her head to look at the gold dragon with whirling yellow and white eyes. Tuck understood. As afraid as she was, Snap sensed there was hope for their situation. It was up to him now.

     "W--we--we all th--th-thought you were Oldtimers," Tuck began, not certain just how much these creatures would understand about the Pernese culture and history. "We suspected Mardra of recruiting you to kill Lord Jaxom and throw Ruatha into contention. When Jaxom found you and one of our people..."

     _Piemur,_ Ryuu supplied the name when Tuck intended to keep that concealed. The man gulped as he remembered what he faced.

     "When--Piemur--found a device in an ancient hold," Tuck said, resuming his explanation, "we thought you had acquired one of those devices."

     _The devices we found looked like early Federation weapons or even Pre-Federation models, Ryuu,_ Wolf supplied, letting Tuck see the images from his mind.

     "Yes," Tuck said, coughing. "Th-that does look like the device Piemur drew for us. Since you were found in the same area," he continued talking to Ryuu, "we suspected you of getting some of them."

     _I see,_ Ryuu said flatly.

     "There's more," Tuck said.

     _I know,_ Ryuu said with equally flat intonation which made Tuck gulp again.

     "After you captured me the other night, Robinton said he noticed your feet were undamaged."

     _Oops!_ Ryuu said grimacing. His expression wasn't missed by his companions.

     _RYUU! YOU IDIOT!_ Puma screamed at him.

     _So that's what set them off,_ Ryuu sighed. _I knew I'd forgotten something when I rescued those watch-whers._

     "It made us think you were an Oldtimer, or someone with access to a dragon, that had timed it to allow your injuries to heal," Tuck explained.

     "And so Robinton's on his way to the shelter to investigate what devices you thought we had picked up," Arye stated.

     "You know about that?" Tuck asked astonished.

     _Oh, yeah,_ Ryuu said chuckling. Then he glared at the man. _So what does Robinton and Sebell make of our story about searching for our missing relative?_

     "We're not quite sure what to make of that," Tuck admitted. "There's too much uncertainty about the truthfulness of that claim. Your behavior so far has made us uncertain whether you intend harm to Lord Jaxom or not, but we couldn't figure out what you were really planning."

     The dragon clearly did not care for that as he looked toward his companions.

     _What else can we do to convince them?_ he asked.

     "What do you mean by that?" Tuck asked.

     _We_ have _been telling you the truth about it!_ Ryuu hissed at him.

     "Really?" Tuck asked incredulous.

     _Well, with the exception of where we came from and that we figured our missing crewman's in Telgar. Those have been the only lies that we've told you,_ Ryuu admitted. _We_ do _know where she is, but we have no intention of letting you people know her location. We've been having enough trouble in keeping track of her, without you folk messing up the works! She's been on this planet since your colony was founded and I imagine she's gotten quite good at hiding among you. She_ is _one of us, after all._

     "I see," Tuck finally said.

     Ryuu ordered him get to his feet, and he led Tuck out of the room and into a passageway huge enough to accommodate even the Benden dragons. Tuck was fascinated by the sliding doors, the illumination used, and the materials used in the walls. Tuck wasn't sure what was in store for him now that the initial interrogation was finished. But he did have his own questions he wanted to put to the creature he had a hard time accepting as a dragon.

     Snap, for her part, began to slowly relax, although her eyes still had flashes of white and yellow among the slowly predominate greens.

     "May I ask a question?" he finally asked, unable to resist. Ryuu silently nodded and it disturbed the harper just how human that gesture seemed.

     "Wh-where d-do you come from?" he forced himself to ask. "How do you do that--that--changing?" he blurted out with the only word that he could come up with. Ryuu slowly grinned.

     _Actually, whether you can believe it or not, I'm from Terra, the same as your ancestors, and the same as those back there you saw,_ he gestured with his head back toward the Transporter Chamber. _We were as human as you. But that was a long, long time ago._

     Tuck stopped and stared, blinking.

     "IMPOSSIBLE!" Tuck shouted.

     _Male Gold!_ Snap automatically responded. _From_ Between _! I seen you! Beauty, Kimi tell!_ Then she started and added as she looked fearfully at Tuck, Nothing _is_ between _!_ But Tuck looked at her oddly.

     "What is that?" he asked her. Ryuu rumbled with laughter.

     _Actually, Snap, that's so not far from the truth,_ Ryuu told her. _But I'm not lying, either._ That made her cock her head in utter confusion.

     _There_ is _something_ between _,_ Ryuu told the man. Tuck's little gold queen nearly fainted.

     "There is?" Tuck asked astonished.

     _The creatures that created_ us _!_ Ryuu said waiting for his reaction. When the man didn't faint, nor had any other adverse response, the dragon continued.

     _We were taken from our world and transformed,_ Ryuu told him. _Re-engineered to function as spies for_ THEM _._ THEY _constructed us to be able to instantly change like you saw._

     "But what are _they_!" Tuck had to ask even as Snap was screeching for them both to stop.

     _DRAGONS,_ Ryuu stated ignoring the antics of the fire-lizard. _Creatures of immense age, power, and abilities you can't conceive._ THEY _made us, this ship, and evidently also_ MADE between _._

     "Dragons?" Tuck asked astonished. "Like ours? Like...?" he gestured to his queen whose golden hide was nearly yellow from anxiety.

     _I suspect they might be related,_ Ryuu said grinning.

     "But if they're _between_ , and no one's seen them...?" Tuck began. "How?"

     _Your little friends, and not-so-little ones,_ Ryuu added, _keep_ THEM _hidden from you. Besides, with_ between _being airless, lightless, and cold as hell, it does help to keep_ THEM _concealed. Other senses, however, can detect_ THEM _. Telepathy helps there. Of your people who are telepaths, I'm sure your natives are taking an active function to keep you people from sensing_ THEM _._

     "But why?" Tuck finally had to ask.

     _Why are_ THEY _there or why do your friends keep_ THEM _hidden?_ Ryuu prompted him.

     "Both," Tuck replied. The dragon chuckled, shrugging his wings.

     _These Pernese dragons probably don't want to alarm you,_ Ryuu finally stated. _They need you humans to help fight the carcases of Ch'les'tol raining down upon your planet._

     "The what?" Tuck asked even as Snap became agitated, screaming about Thread.

     _The Ch'les'tol are a species that lives in space,_ Ryuu explained. _Mind you, Snap! They are as much victims of the Red Star as you are!_ The fire-lizard screeched and flew about the passageway at the mention of the hated enemy.

     _Stuck halfway_ between _!_ she finally shouted, settling back to Tuck's shoulder.

     "What's wrong with you?" he asked his fire-lizard. Ryuu laughed at the creature's outraged performance.

     _We're on a ship with both Temporal and Psionic shields,_ Ryuu told Tuck. _She can't jump_ between _from here. There's nothing for her to reference to teleport. As she observed, it's like being stuck halfway_ between _._

     _As I was saying..._

     "You can do that?" Tuck asked, interrupting the dragon.

     _Among other things,_ Ryuu replied.

     "Then you were the cause of that flashing over Ruatha! You shortened the Threadfall that day! You can eliminate Thread for us!" Tuck shouted. The dragon glared at him and began to walk away, but the Harper pursued the issue. "If you've got such power, then you can eliminate Thread! You must be able to!"

     _We_ can _, yes!_ Ryuu snapped as he stopped. _We, however, will_ not _! We_ must _not!_

     "But why?" Tuck asked. "If what you say is true, then those so-called dragons that made you made _them_ ," he pointed to his fire-lizard. "You're all related! You have to help! Why won't you?"

     _Because_ THEY can _, but_ won't _!_ Ryuu replied. Frustrated, the dragon resumed his walk, gesturing with his large head for Tuck to follow.

     _Look, I understand your confusion,_ Ryuu finally stated. _But we're not supposed to interfere with your world's natural development. We're only here to pick up our missing relative and return to the Dragon Homeworld. If you want to eliminate Thread, you're going to have to do it on your own._

     "But you did once! I was there! I saw it!" Tuck protested. "I was almost to Fort for that assignment to investigate you--if only I had _known_ \--I saw the sky lighting up!" he trailed off shaking his head.

     _Listen, the fact that_ THEY _stay_ between _and_ don't _get involved in this either is the indication that's what_ THEY _want._ You _have to solve this on your own!_

     _As I was saying, the Ch'les'tol are as much victims as you are,_ Ryuu continued. _It's the rogue planet that has caused you all to suffer. It drags the Ch'les'tol in toward Rukbat and burns away their minds. Then their comatose bodies are what fall on your planet. Their hard outer shells burn up and release the digestive and other organs that you see as Thread._

     "How does that information help us?" Tuck finally asked. The dragon stopped and sat to stare at him.

     _It's not supposed to,_ Ryuu softly said. _It's to help_ her _. I'm just reminding Snap as to what their fight is all about._

     Tuck glanced at his queen fire-lizard and saw her eyes settle into their normal greens and blues. She crooned in comprehension.

     "Well I'm glad _one_ of us understands that!" he spat.

 

     "Shells!" Tuck exclaimed when the doors to the elevator opened.

     _Not a bad view, eh?_ Ryuu teased as the man staggered onto the Bridge.

     "It's incredible!" Tuck said in awe looking at the planet. "That's--that's the Southern Continent? It's _huge_! I can just barely see Benden and Nerat. What's those?" he asked pointing at three objects hanging above the globe.

     _Those are the ships your people arrived in when they settled this world,_ Ryuu said. _The_ Yokohama _,_ Bahrain _, and_ Buenos Aries _._

     "The First and Second crossings!" Tuck whispered. "Then it's not a myth!"

     _I don't know the history of your world,_ Ryuu said. _But those are the devices they used to come here._

     "And this--ship--you come here from where?" he asked.

     _We've--been exploring the Galaxy,_ Ryuu finally stated. _And the Magellanics along with a couple other galaxies the Milky Way has absorbed._ He looked away as the subject got uncomfortable. _We haven't been to this section of the Galaxy for a couple thousand years._

     "Why?" Tuck asked puzzled by the dragon's apparent unease.

     _We've been hiding!_ Ryuu snapped.

     "Hiding?" Tuck exclaimed. "From who? Or should I ask 'from what?'"

     _No. You shouldn't,_ Ryuu said. _You shouldn't ask at all. You really don't want to know. Anyhow, we're back because we've been recalled._

     "Recalled?" Tuck said. "Who's recalling you?"

     THEM _,_ Ryuu said. _The ones who made us. It's time for us to go home._

     "And this girl you're looking for," Tuck said finally putting the pieces together. "She refused to come?"

     _That's correct,_ Ryuu replied. _All our efforts have been to look for her. We don't give a damn for your politics or your world._ Then the dragon stopped and grinned. _However, your natives are intriguing. I wouldn't mind helping them._ Then he sighed and hung his head even as Snap perked up hers. _But I can't. We're not allowed to. Nor can I help those cats._

     "Cats?" Tuck asked, bewildered.

     _Those large felines that some idiot poisoned with Mentasynth,_ Ryuu said snarling. _The same stuff that's poisoned your population and the natives._

     " _Poisoned?_ " Tuck exclaimed. "What are you talking about? Who's been poisoned?"

     _A good chunk of your colony,_ Ryuu said, gently picking up a hand scanner from a console. He passed the device up and down in front of Tuck. _You, yourself, have an unhealthy dose. Of course, Snap is heavily infected._ Both Pernese reacted in surprise.

     "Who did that?" Tuck exclaimed.

     _Whoever it was, they did it thousands of years ago,_ Ryuu explained, setting down the scanner. _There was one colonist who had the knowledge, but she should've taken that knowledge to her grave. She had sworn to do so._

     "I don't understand," Tuck said.

     _Mentasynth is a substance that, after a process the subject undergoes, is passed along within your genes,_ Ryuu told them. _Its purpose is to enhance latent telepathic abilities, or provide latency in those who don't normally have it. But it's extremely toxic. A fraction of a micromazon too much and it's potentially lethal. Worse yet, even if it doesn't kill you outright, it can still have some really nasty side effects._

     "Why did they do that?" Tuck asked nervously.

     _They did it to your natives,_ Ryuu said. _Evidently, they performed this to you colonists to enhance your bonds with them._

     "Natives? What natives?" Tuck asked. "I've heard you use that word before, but I can't figure out what you're talking about."

     _What you call 'fire-lizards',_ Ryuu snarled, _'dragons', 'watch-whers', 'Ruth'!_ Tuck's head snapped up in surprise.

     _Apparently, they did to those cats, too,_ Ryuu said in disgust. _And Kit Ping Yung would_ never _have done that! She knew what Mentasynth would do to them! Cats don't react well to it. They'd feel the agony their prey experienced when caught. It would force the poor creatures to choose starving or going insane with pain._

     _It just doesn't make sense!_ Ryuu complained. _Yung came to this world to escape both those who wanted her to provide that knowledge for military uses and those who wanted her dead simply because she had the knowledge. She intended to let that knowledge die with her at this colony._

     "Are you certain?" Tuck asked.

     _The records are fragmentary, but I had a little help to keep track of such matters,_ Ryuu said grinning. _She and her granddaughter altered their identities to evade the authorities and signed on the Pern Colony._

     "How can you know that?" he asked.

     _Because, you see,_ I _was the one who forged their documents,_ Ryuu replied with a slow grin. _And since those were_ my _viruses modifying the records, no one else could penetrate their cover._

     The Bridge doors opened and Wolf and Puma entered in their human forms. Just then, Tuck's eyes bugged out as he gawked. Snap blinked in surprise and screamed. When Ryuu turned to look, he saw F'ress and V'yir in their native forms had also arrived.

     "So this is ourr visitorr?" F'ress asked, cocking his head and twitching his nose.

     "With one of the creatures?" V'yir asked, also cocking her head.

     _Talking feline?_ Snap asked astonished. _Talki...? Mrph!_ she exclaimed when Tuck grabbed her snout to stop her.

     "Don't say it!" he whispered fearfully. "Don't even _think_ it!"

     "Are you sure you should be showing him this?" Puma asked.

     _I wanted to convince him we are not some rogue element hidden somewhere on their colony,_ Ryuu explained.

     V'yir was puzzled by the human's technique and cocked her head absurdly to communicate her confusion.

     "If you wish to slay the creature, you should use these," she finally told Tuck by holding up her hands to show him her claws.

     "Wha--?" Tuck gasped, startled out of his stare. Then he noticed he was still holding Snap's snout and that her eyes were whirling and her wings were flapping. "Oh! Sorry, Snap!" he said, quickly letting her go. The fire-lizard gasped for breath.

     _Perhaps you two should avoid being around Master Traller,_ Ryuu told them. _He's not yet used to non-humans._

 

**Part 8.2:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.22, Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "This food is fantastic!" Tuck exclaimed. "What is it called again?"

     _That is_ su-shi _, this_ tou-fu _, and this is_ chu-ka ya-ki-so-ba _,_ Ryuu said pointing them out. _They are delicacies from Japan, a region of Terra. Some of your people were evidently from there._

     "What do those words mean?" Tuck asked.

     _They're just names for the food in the Japanese language,_ Ryuu told him. _There's not really much meaning to them, although, '_ chu-ka _' has the same meaning as the Yiddish word '_ smorgasbord _'._

     "What's that?" Tuck asked perplexed.

     _Means the same as the Hungarian word for '_ goulash _',_ the dragon said grinning. _Just a mix of different stuff._

     _Hey!_ Snap hissed. _You're laughing at us!_

     _I'm just teasing him, Snap,_ Ryuu told her with a wink.

     "Well, this is good!" Tuck said. "But you don't eat?"

     _In this form, I prefer raw red meat,_ Ryuu said. _Actually, we have to be careful about what we eat here. Our scans indicated your people can consume original Terran meals, but I was concerned you might find the taste rather bland. We don't have enough scans to replicate any of the native fodder yet. However, with the high concentration of boron, vanadium, and other minerals, we're afraid they might be toxic to us._

     "Oh, I see," Tuck said gulping.

     _Again, as I explained before, it wouldn't_ kill _us, outright,_ Ryuu pointed out. _Just make us use the Gateway at awkward moments._

     _Speaking of which,_ Ryuu added, _I need to be able to infiltrate your society._

     "It looks like you've already done so," Tuck observed with confusion creeping into his thoughts.

     _Unfortunately, not well enough,_ Ryuu hissed. _I've been compromised! So have Puma, Wolf, and Arye! We need time to get our quarry settled and relaxed. We can't just jump her and expect to get her up to the ship without some disaster, either to your people or to us._

     _Like you're now aware, I have no interest in harming Ruth or any of his friends,_ Ryuu explained. _However, no one else knows this. And since everybody's now looking for me because I apparently impressed a gold dragon, that's made it rather rough for our mission._

     "I see," Tuck sympathized. "But why can't you approach F'lar or Lessa? Explain it to them as you've explained it to me? They're far more used to dragons than a lowly harper like me."

     _Because that's impossible!_ Ryuu exclaimed. You're _not supposed to know about us, either! Besides, we've had too many unhappy dealings with normal humans._ Ryuu turned his head away. _Y--you--you creatures can't be trusted._

     "So what do you intend to do?" Tuck asked taking a bite of the Japanese style pork.

     _After you provide us with information for our new covers, you'll be sent back down to the planet,_ Ryuu told him after several moments. _We--we want you to tell everyone how you saw me using that weapon that you were so concerned about, and how I evidently had impressed a gold dragon._

     Tuck nearly choked on the meat.

     "Y--y--you're--joking!" the man finally gasped as he cleared his airway.

     _Not at all,_ Ryuu grimly stated.

     "B-but why?" Tuck exclaimed. "That's the worst possible thing you could let out!"

     _Yes, it is,_ Ryuu agreed. _But it is also what they expect to hear. I can anticipate how they'll respond to that information. What I can't anticipate is how they would react to the truth! The knowledge of this ship, the nature of my crew, or my mission. No more than your natives can predict how your people would react if they knew the True Nature of_ Between _._

     "But some of us would help you if we just knew!" Tuck protested.

     _No,_ Ryuu countered. _You wouldn't. The only reason you are willing to help me is that you fear for Snap and your own life. Your planetary leaders would fear me as they would fear_ THEM _if they knew about the creatures lurking_ between _. Your dragons fear us because_ we _know what it in_ between _and fear that we'll tell your people. None of them can understand our true motives. They would never accept our reasons for not helping you remove the menace of the Red Star. My crew and I have to do this without anyone's help._

     Tuck finally relented.

     With his assistance, Ryuu was able to get a deeper understanding of the Pernese culture. Ryuu interrogated him on several aspects of the colony mainly to keep Tuck from guessing where or how he and the rest of the crew intended to re-infiltrate the society. In fact, unbeknownst to Tuck, Ryuu discovered a route not only into the Pernese lifestyle but also into Fort Weyr itself and the means to help Sherri and Mike to locate their quarry!

 

     _This is where Terra is located,_ Ryuu later told him on the Bridge as he pointed out the star on the huge monitor. _And this,_ he added adjusting the controls on his remote, _is how it looks from the surface._

     "The Dragon and her Rider!" Tuck whispered in awe. Ryuu cocked his head in confusion. "That's the constellation of the Dragon and her Rider," the harper explained. He walked up to trace out the pattern. "It's said to depict a rider sitting on a half-grown green. Here's her head, neck, wings, arms, legs, her tail swinging around in front, and the Rider on her shoulders. I've never understood why they said it was a half-grown green, though," Tuck absently muttered. "Over here is Thread falling," Tuck added, sweeping his hand toward the left of the image. "Which one is Terra, again?" Ryuu pointed to it.

     "The heart of the Rider," Tuck chuckled. "How appropriate."

     But Tuck was feeling depressed, despite Snap's thrill at seeing Ryuu as a dragon and despite that magnificent view of his world as they sat on the Bridge. And Ryuu knew it, despite Tuck's attempt to hide his emotions. The gold dragon probed into his mind.

     _All these miracles! But what's it for?_ Tuck was thinking. _They could do so much for us!_ Ryuu could tell the man had a hard time accepting Ryuu's explanation why they couldn't help the colony.

     _But this shouldn't be causing him so much distress,_ Ryuu considered as he watched the man. _If anything, he should be rebelling against the restrictions._

     Ryuu probed deeper.

     _This place seems so_ dead _!_ was the underlying thought Ryuu found running through his mind.

     _Hmmm,_ Ryuu thought. His chin nearly touched his throat as he pulled his head back nearly between his wings. His neck formed a perfect S-curve as he crouched sphinx-like on the floor.

     Snap sighed as she looked at him. _So noble!_ she thought laying her chin on her paws. _So strangely beautiful! If only he was smaller..._

     Ryuu's red eyes suddenly shifted, bringing those odd silver slits to focus on her and winked at her. Surprised, she perked up.

     _You_ heard _me?_ she exclaimed.

     _I can hear a lot when I wish to,_ Ryuu told her with a smile. _Perhaps I can help you both,_ he added with another wink. _Let's help your friend first, shall we?_

     Ryuu got up and walked over to a console. Calling up a menu, he checked what Panthro had lined up for the next selection of music Ryuu liked to listen to.

     _Hmmm!_ Ryuu hummed. _This should be good,_ he thought.

     "What?" Tuck suddenly exclaimed when the music began. Snap also cocked her head at the sounds.

     _This is music from when I was young,_ Ryuu told him. _'Rush', from their '2112' album, the song is called 'Tears'._ He let Tuck listen.

     Tuck could tell it was a very moving love song. When it finished, he looked at Ryuu in confusion.

     _We have a substantial collection of ancient tunes all the way up to near modern times,_ Ryuu explained grinning. _I have my own personal favorites all cued up for sequential playing. It usually takes a couple centuries to go through them all before they repeat--longer when events keep me from listening every day._

     "Y-y-you're r-really a H-H-Harper?" Tuck stammered in shock. "But you sing worse than a wher!"

     _Hmmm, perhaps in your society, this function might be the equivalent to an Archivist,_ Ryuu suggested. _True, I don't have any musical talent. I just like to listen. Although, some of your_ non-musical _functions might qualify me as a Harper,_ _more like_ _the type you_ _would know,_ he added with a knowing wink. Tuck leaned back in his seat and laughed.

     "So what else do you have?" he finally asked.

     Ryuu reached out to the console screen and selected "Resume".

 

     Arye, Puma, and Wolf stepped out of the lift, and as one, all had to dodge Snap as she flew past their noses, screeching wildly.

     "What the--?" Wolf exclaimed. He was the first to recover and take stock of what was happening on the Bridge.

     The colonist looked scared and for good reason with Ryuu so obviously furious. The gold dragon was tensed up, hissing and fuming. Snap zipped by again, still screeching at the top of her lungs. Wolf stared at her in utter bafflement. She was excited, true, but not scared.

     "Ryuu!" Wolf exclaimed. "What's going on?"

     _Never..._ NEVER-- _in the entire time I've had this ship!_ Ryuu muttered as he uttered a long hissing growl. _Never--in fact of the entire time I've ever commanded a starship--have I_ EVER _needed to interrupt a_ 'Rush' _song!_

     "Wha--?" Arye and Puma both got out. Snap zipped by again. They looked at her and only realized she was going on about wanting someone to come back.

     "What happ--? HEY!" Wolf yelled at the native going by once more. Snap halted and hovered, her eyes still whirling in excitement.

     _Fire-lizard_ sing _!_ she exclaimed. _Sings_ human words _!_

     Wolf had to think about it as the fire-lizard flew off again, calling for the other one to come back and teach her how to sing like a human. Then he suddenly understood what it was that set her off and began to laugh.

     _Watch them!_ Ryuu growled, pushing past them to get on the lift. He was still furious.

     "What's going on?" Puma demanded as the doors closed after the end of Ryuu's tail disappeared. "What's so funny?" she asked Wolf.

     _The lead singer for 'Rush',_ Wolf had to send her telepathically as he was laughing so hard that he couldn't get his breath back to use words, _could pitch his voice so high, he could rival the high notes of his guitar! The native's thinking he's one of them that learned to sing words like a human!_

     "Ryuu started having your Hold--I mean, ship--play music," Tuck told Puma when he thought Wolf couldn't answer her question. "The second song he started playing--well," he gestured to his gold fire-lizard, "Snap went crazy! And Ryuu got angry! I don't know what's going on!"

     Puma and Arye both looked at each other and also started giggling.

 

     It was several hours later before both Ryuu and Snap calmed down. Ryuu decided not to repeat the music episode, and Tuck wisely never brought it up again. The man never figured out what went wrong or why. Ryuu escorted Tuck through a different area of the ship.

     _I need you to speak to the_ Panthro _,_ Ryuu told him.

     "The _Panthro_?" Tuck asked intrigued. "I heard you use that name before!"

     _Indeed you have,_ Ryuu said. _Well, to let you in on a little secret, you're_ on _the_ Panthro _. This entire complex is the_ Panthro _._

     "This Hold?" Tuck exclaimed.

     _This is not a Hold as you know it,_ the dragon patiently said. _I've explained to you before. This is a starship._

     Tuck observed Ryuu opening a vault door containing a long blade that had a glowing sapphire the size of his palm in the hilt.

     "Why do you need me to speak to this _Panthro_?" Tuck asked.

     _Because we have Psionic screens up,_ Ryuu said glaring at them. _Because your little friend is up here. Because all the other natives are down there! They would hear us speaking to our ship otherwise. The Psionic screens help keep us concealed from your friends down on the planet. But unfortunately, because the screens are up, I can't speak directly to the ship while I'm in this form._

     "So what do you want me to say?" Tuck asked. "And how do I get this _Panthro_ to hear me?"

     "I hear you already," the ship's computer responded. Tuck nearly jumped out of his skin. Ryuu snorted at the man's reaction.

     "Actually, I have a pretty good guess what Ryuu wishes you to tell me," the disembodied voice went on. "He wants me to lower the Psionic screens."

     "Why?" Tuck asked.

     " _Because that blue stone is the core of the Psionic screens,_ " both Ryuu and the ship spoke at the same time, further unnerving the man.

     Tuck suddenly felt a presence that he wasn't aware of vanish. At the same time, Snap happily chirped.

     _I can hear everyone again!_ she exclaimed.

     _Stay right there, Snap!_ Ryuu ordered her. _And no calling anyone! You sit quietly and be still!_

     _Still stuck halfway_ between _!_ Snap complained.

     _Only the Psionic screens are down,_ Ryuu told her. _The Temporal shields are still up and they're going to stay up! This is delicate work, and I need you to sit right there and do nothing._

     The dragon turned toward the sword held in its brace and gingerly reached out to the hilt, working his claws into the frame that held the glowing blue gem. He stared at the crystal and sent his mind into the matrix, searching...

     Finally, he found the entity he was looking for and linked his mind with her, not being very gentle about it.

     In the middle of one of the agonizing fever-induced spasms racking her body, Thella sensed a presence in the cavern in which she had taken shelter. Fumbling for her blade, she blinked in the darkness, looking for her foe. Suddenly a searing fire lanced through her mind. When she came to, she could only make out featureless glowing blue plains all around her.

     _My! My!_ a voice in her mind sounded. _Aren't we a pretty sight?_

     "Who are you?" she shouted.

     _No need to yell,_ the voice said. _I can hear you quite clearly._

     "Where are you?" she screamed.

     _Well, do as you wish,_ the voice continued. _It's only your ears that are going to get hurt._

     _As for who I am, I'm disappointed you've forgotten me so quickly. It's not every day one has a flaming dragon do a strafe-and-run attack on them...and most certainly not many who_ survive _it..._

     Ryuu watched from within her mind as well as from without. He smiled as he sensed Thella's terror turned her spine grow cold. He watched as she turned about and then looked up to see where the blue light was coming from and gasped in horror.

     There above her, as though she was looking out through a faceted gem, was the gold dragon glaring at her, its image multiplied through the facets of the "sky".

     _That's right. It's me,_ Ryuu told her. _As for where I am, I'm still quite some distance away, but I have linked directly to your mind so we can talk. No need to worry at this moment. I'm not interested in killing you right away. That wouldn't be..."sporting"._

     _But it does seem you picked up a bit of an infection when I turned your companion into a fine red mist. Nasty thing when you get that stuff under your skin. Worst case of acne I've seen on a person in a long time. You might want to consider going to a healer to get that looked at. Or at the very least, you can squeeze out the puss yourself, although it might hurt a bit more._

     "Wh-wh-why are y-y-you telling me th-this?" Thella fearfully asked.

     _I want you to get better so that you can better entertain me while I hunt you,_ it said slowly grinning at her. _There's an old saying I'm fond of: 'Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold!'_ Bon Appetíte _, Bitch!_

     Ryuu withdrew the link from Thella, satisfied for now that she would not soon forget her terror. If there was still time, he intended to revisit her in person to ensure she never threatened a Pernese native again.

     _Pretty woman!_ Snap said, seeing the image of another woman held in chains as she stared into the crystal that the dragon touched. Ryuu instantly whirled on them.

     _SNAP!_ Ryuu angrily shouted. _GET OUT OF HERE!_

     Screaming in fright, the fire-lizard took off down the corridor.

     _Panthro!_ Ryuu yelled. _Psionic screens up_ NOW _!_

     "Affirmative," Panthro responded as the vault doors began to close. "Has the creature been harmed?"

     _We'll know once I've had a chance to check on her,_ Ryuu sighed.

     "What happened?" Tuck asked. "What did she do? Why did you yell at her like that?"

     _She linked her mind into the crystal,_ Ryuu said. _This is a very dangerous device. She might very well have harmed herself and you!_

     "Then why did you bring us here?" Tuck demanded.

     _Because I have to be the one who's escorting you two,_ Ryuu snarled.

     "Psionic screens activated," the ship reported once the ponderous doors thudded shut sending a shudder through the deck.

     _Let's go hunt her down,_ Ryuu growled walking away from the sealed vault. Tuck gave a last glance at the doors and meekly followed.

 

**Part 8.3:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.23, Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     They found the little creature the next day, and Ryuu apologized for frightening her.

     _But Snap, that was a very dangerous thing for you to do,_ Ryuu firmly told her over her squawks of protest.

     _Blue eye!_ Snap happily replied, flapping her wings. Ryuu stared at her, trying to think how to get the concept across to her.

     _Look at me, Snap,_ Ryuu told her. _My eyes are red, but I'm nice. I like you. I want to protect you. That creature back there is a 'blue eye' but it is evil! You saw her screaming as she burned? She wasn't screaming from fear or pain, but of rage!_

     _Good red eye!_ Snap yelled, understanding. _Bad blue eye!_

     _That's right, Snap,_ Ryuu said to her.

     "Wait a moment!" Tuck exclaimed. "You mean that sapphire is alive?"

     _Indeed it is,_ Ryuu told him. _Only it's not a sapphire. It's a device--something that was made but has intelligence. There was another world we came across where the colonists there used such devices to war against each other. Fortunately, most of those devices have been destroyed over the centuries._

     _We've got the only two left a couple centuries ago,_ the dragon explained. _They're somewhat useful in that we developed the Psionic screens with them. But they're far too dangerous. We plan to take them back with us to the_ DRAGON _Homeworld. I'm sure_ THEY _can reprogram the devices to make them safer._

     _Now, let's not dwell on that any more,_ Ryuu said. _You might want to watch your eyes. When I use the Gateway, it makes a rather bright flash_. Tuck quickly closed his eyes and turned away, having experienced it a few times. He didn't want a repeat.

     Even so, the flash was bright enough to sear a red glow through his eyelids, leaving him with a slowly fading green fog in his vision when he opened his eyes again.

     Snap suddenly started screaming on his shoulder and flapping her wings. _Male Gold! Male Gold! Male Gold!_ Tuck looked at her, but her eyes were flashing blue and green. He turned to look where Ryuu was and saw a much smaller version of the dragon he had been talking to.

     "What the--? A fire-lizard?" Tuck asked.

     _Not exactly,_ Ryuu replied, leaping off the floor to land on his other shoulder. _This is the form I used to finally evade Ruth. Let's go down this way,_ Ryuu indicated to their right when they came to a four-way intersection.

     "How many different creatures can you become?" Tuck asked.

     _Over four thousand,_ the tusked fire-lizard replied. _But not all of them are dragons. You remember the horses we rode out of Fort?_

     "Those runner beasts?" Tuck exclaimed.

     _Four more of my crew you had the pleasure of meeting,_ Ryuu said.

     "So the next question has to be: 'How many of your people are there?'" Tuck asked.

     _Sixty-three, counting our missing crewman,_ the miniature dragon told him.

     "Snap!" Tuck yelled at his fire-lizard who was climbing over his head to get a good look at Ryuu. "What's wrong with you? What's finally made you convinced this is all impossible? I've been thinking that ever since we got here!"

     _That's not what she means,_ Ryuu told him. _Oh, this door here. Walk toward it._

     "What do you mean?" Tuck asked as he moved where Ryuu directed him. Large sliding doors pulled apart to reveal a huge chamber. "She's been screaming 'Male Gold' ever since you changed. That's one of their concepts for an impossibility."

     _Not anymore, it's not,_ Ryuu said, grinning. _I really_ am _a male gold dragon._

     Tuck froze as a dread unlike any he'd had since his arrival crept over him. Ryuu stretched out to reach a console panel near the doorway to tap out a sequence on the screen. The huge empty chamber suddenly disappeared, replaced by a pastoral landscape of long grass covering surrounding hills with clusters of trees randomly strewn about.

     After the Holodeck completed its reconfiguration, Ryuu leapt off Tuck's shoulder, quickly followed by Snap. The two miniature dragons began chasing each other among the landscape, leaving Tuck standing there.

 

**Part 8.4:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.24, Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     Tuck sat not more than a reach away from where he had entered the Holodeck. He was convinced that they somehow jumped _between_ and he was hopelessly lost somewhere in Southern. Only the grass didn't feel right and the moon he saw through the night was neither Belior nor Timor. As Ryuu and Snap played, he had tried searching in vain for the door they had come through. Only it wasn't there anymore. He even tried to feel for it through the illusion of the terrain, but he never felt the walls that must surely be there if he was still on the _Panthro_.

     Finally, Tuck sat down to wait for them to finish. And there he stayed.

     A noise from behind startled him and Tuck turned to look. Less than a quarter-dragonlength away, a doorway leading back into the ship's corridor appeared. He jumped to his feet to rush through when he suddenly stopped, frozen in terror.

     From the corridor, in (--or out? Tuck couldn't be sure) walked a huge black feline. It was so close that he wouldn't have time to pull any of his blades before it attacked. Only it didn't attack him as it walked by, and the feline barely gave him a glance. The doorway closed behind the creature and vanished as though it was never there.

     The inky black form sat on its haunches only an arm length away from him and sniffed the air, evidently searching for something.

     "Ar-ar-are y-you one of Ryuu's people?" Tuck asked dry mouthed. Given that they seemed to be able to change into different creatures, he didn't want to provoke one by a simple misunderstanding.

     "Technically, no," the panther calmly replied still sniffing the air. "I _am_ Ryuu."

     Tuck wasn't certain which fact unnerved him more: that the creature spoke, or what it said. He suddenly ran for the exit, or where he had last seen it. After running for about twenty dragonlengths (and incidentally, up a hillside), he knew he was hopelessly lost and slowed to a stop, panting to get his breath back.

     The feline looked curiously over its shoulder at him.

     "What do you think you're doing?" it asked. "Get back over here." The air about him wavered as if the entire world was like the surface of water and suddenly, he was standing next to the large feline again.

     "That wasn't _between_!" Tuck exclaimed. "And it wasn't those gold sparkles, either!"

     "Follow me," the feline said, padding off in the other direction. Seeing how he didn't see much choice in the matter, Tuck complied.

     They found the two gold fire-lizards lazing on a rocky outcropping in the next valley over with their necks and tails entwined, and with one of Ryuu's wings draped possessively over Snap's back. When Snap opened her eyes and saw the black feline looming over them, she screamed.

     _SNAP!_ Ryuu shouted as he held the native to keep her from flying off. _That's a friend of mine!_ When the dubious fire-lizard ceased her struggle, Ryuu released her and stepped away to trigger the Gateway, taking his Caitian form. Tuck and Snap both gasped at seeing Ryuu like that.

     _He's just like that talking, upright feline!_ he suddenly remembered. _They really_ can _change their form! Then, that one,_ no _! Those_ two _could've been_ anyone _I met!_

     "Yes?" Ryuu asked.

     "Good news! We've located the original settlement!" the panther reported. Ryuu blinked several times at the news.

     "Any sign of the base computerr?" he inquired.

     "Not yet, but the other monitors are converging on the site to search. The entire area is covered with volcanic ash from five to twenty horamters thick," Panthera replied. She pointed her nose at the fire-lizard sitting beside Ryuu. " _They_ are going to be a problem however."

     "How so?" Ryuu asked.

     "That subspace distortion they generate," the panther explained. "It plays havoc with our sensors. And there are _thousands_ of the creatures about! Not to mention some of the minerals in the ash make marginal readings unreliable at best."

     "Do you think the computerrs werre destrroyed?" Ryuu asked anxiously.

     "We did find some structures damaged, but we used sonar and other low tech scans to confirm they contained nothing of significance," Panthera replied. "From our topographic readings, most of the other structures appear intact, nearly 95% of the settlement."

     "That's good!" Ryuu sighed in relief. He turned to the colonist who had followed his monitor. "Tuck, would you mind it if Pantherra examines yourr frriend, Snap?"

     "Panthera?" Tuck asked. "I thought it told me it was _you_!"

     "You heard correctly," the feline calmly spoke, glancing at him.

     "Do you people time on yourselves, too?" Tuck nervously asked.

     "Oh, no!" Ryuu responded after a fit of laughter. "Pantherra and Parrdus arre copies of me!"

     "Pardus?" Tuck asked, even more confused.

     "We're monitors for Ryuu," Panthera stated. "There are two of us for every crewman. A male and female avatar of various species to accompany and watch them. My counterpart is Pardus. We are black leopards."

     "Verry _LARRGE_ black leoparrds," Ryuu added grinning.

     "I see," Tuck slowly replied. He didn't fully understand, but then, he didn't really expect to. "So what do you want to do with Snap?"

     "Yourr little frriends generrate a subspace distorrtion field--theirr ability to go _between_ \--that disrrupts some of ourr scanning equipment," Ryuu explained. "It's parrt of why it's taking so long to locate ourr missing crrewman. With ourr scans limited to just about a hundrred horramterrs, they'rre nearrly next to useless. If it werren't forr the natives, we could've located and trransporrted ourr crrewman frrom orrbit weeks ago.

     "We've found yourr orriginal colony site and, as Pantherra rreporrted, just located the base computerr centerr," Ryuu continued. "With the data frrom it, we hope to isolate which of yourr people is ourr missing crrewman."

     "What's a computer?" Tuck inquired. "What's so important about them?"

     "Among other things, computers are efficient record-keeping devices," Panthera explained.

     "Records?" Tuck asked. He thought about what he had seen so far and he hoped he wasn't going to irritate them with a suggestion. "Those--objects--ships--outside," he began, "wouldn't they have the records you're looking for?"

     "We've been therre alrready," Ryuu said flicking an ear. "While most of the ships' systems arre still intact, the centrral corre prrocessorrs and the necessarry data modules werre taken down to the colony. They don't contain what we need."

 

**Part 8.5:**

 

Present Pass, 13.4.25, Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "I'm worried about Snap," Tuck told Ryuu as the stranger escorted the harper toward the lab. They had sent Snap with Panthera into one of the astrophysics labs for the examination. "I can hear her. She's scared."

     Ryuu decided he had enough information from Tuck's mind to forgo any of his draconic forms and had returned to human form to allow the colonist some measure of comfort. He had donned a black Japanese kimono with embroidered gold Chinese dragons upon leaving the Holodeck.

     "She's probably just a little nervous," Ryuu assured him. "It must still be all a little new for her, too."

     "Just what is it that you need from her?"

     "You see this?" Ryuu asked pulling out a hand scanner from his pocket. He opened the slim case to let Tuck see the interface. "The normal range to pick up a human life sign is about fifty thousand horamters. With your natives about, they're only good for about a hundred."

     "How much is a horamter?"

     "About this far," Ryuu answered holding out his arms the distance apart to show him.

     "A hundred of those?" Tuck pondered. "That wouldn't even amount to a dragonlength."

     "No, it wouldn't," Ryuu agreed. "Anyhow, we hope that by examining how she makes the subspace distortion that renders our scanners useless, we can figure a way around the problem." He conducted scan of Tuck and showed him the readings.

     "It says I'm human, adapted for Rukbat III," Tuck said, figuring out where on the monitor to look. Ryuu scanned himself and showed Tuck again.

     "You're human, too?" Tuck muttered with a puzzled expression.

     "Until I do this," Ryuu said as he put his thumb on the monitor screen, and after tapping out a code on the interface, handed it back to Tuck.

     "' _Standard_ Human, with genetic anomalies'?" Tuck read. He glanced at Ryuu with more questions forming in his mind.

     "A safety factor," Ryuu explained. "As our cover story, they show we're adapted for your planet, too. In case these scanners fall into the wrong hands, they can't be used to track back to us. But the truth is we've got several genetic anomalies, traces of gold, silver, platinum, and other rare elements in our genes. But coupled in particular are especially energetic and is what these are currently keyed for."

     "Tech-ni-cium?" Tuck read. Ryuu nodded.

     " _THEY_ made us, using a stable isotope of the element, no less," Ryuu said.

 

     "Adjust your K-band receptors to filter out the first through ninth harmonic orders," the ship suggested.

     "Still no good," the female panther snarled. "Her energy levels are too high across the band and slope up too early toward the extremes. And worse yet, the distribution is even more asymmetric than normal. It's difficult to isolate her equation. She must exist with a previously unidentified order."

     The doors to the lab opened and Snap bolted for it.

 

     "The Technicium's interactions with another element, di-Lith--WHOA!" Ryuu exclaimed as the doors opened. Both he and Tuck both instinctively ducked as the fire-lizard flew screaming at them. Her voice ended with a surprised squawk and when Tuck looked up, he saw her frozen in place with a startled look, still madly flapping her wings but not getting anywhere.

     "Making progress, I see?" Ryuu ventured.

     " _Now_ we'rre getting some goo-ood readings!" the monitor purred as she held the fire-lizard in a tractor beam to keep her from escaping. "She's trying to teleport!"

     "Please!" Tuck cried, reaching for the gold creature. "You're hurting her!" Some bubble of force prevented him from reaching her.

     "There, there, Snap!" Ryuu said soothingly to her. He too reached out, but this time, he was able to take her into his hands. The native was violently trembling in fear. "There's nothing to worry about. Panthera's not going to hurt you."

     _HATE THIS PLACE!_ Snap screamed. _SCARY! NO HEAR ANYONE!! STUCK HALFWAY_ BETWEEN _!!!_ HATE _IT!!!!_

     "It's okay, Snap!" Ryuu said, actually succeeding in calming her down. Tuck was amazed, even as he resented Ryuu taking her away from him. He never would have been able to relax her in her agitated state so easily. "Calm down," Ryuu continued to soothe her. "Gently. It's okay." Ryuu stroked the fire-lizard until the whirling colors of her eyes slowed and settled on blues and greens again. He handed her to Tuck after she had calmed.

     "Now, what seems to be the problem?" Ryuu asked, fully entering the lab with Tuck following.

     "The creature's life readings don't correspond to any known level of theKirlian-band," the ship reported.

     "Well, there is her connection to _THEM_ ," Ryuu pointed out. "Stands to reason there's more to these creatures than what normal scans will pull up. In addition, the natives do generate a subspace or subtemporal field that distorts our sensors."

     "Other life-forms have been found that utilize similar teleporting abilities," Panthera argued. "And their K-band emissions are--somewhat--standard."

     "Except that we've never been able to scan our Creators," Ryuu countered. " _THEY_ exist simultaneously in both normal and subspace and generate enough distortions to totally obliterate our scans. At least you can still get a hundred horamters with these guys."

     "Don't jump to conclusions so quickly," the panther said, going over to sniff at the fire-lizard. Snap, for her part, retreated to Tuck's shoulder to keep some distance from the non-life creature. "I'm still analyzing those readings I just got from her. You're going to like this!"

     " _NEGATIVE?_ " _Panthro_ exclaimed when Panthera fed the data to the ship's computer.

     "What's up?" Ryuu inquired. He had never heard _Panthro_ react like that before.

     "There's more to these little natives than we guessed," Panthera said, licking her chops in a manner that made Tuck nervous. "She just tried to teleport into that ' _between_ ' dimension, and her readings went off the scale! In the _negative_ direction!"

     "Let me see," Ryuu said, walking over to a monitor. The display came up with the energy spike spread over the subspace bands arranged by frequency. Ryuu traced out the graph and something tugged at his memory.

     And continued to tug. He suddenly recognized the signs of a flashback and braced himself. But it never came and that puzzled him. He never before failed to have such an event when he felt this way. He looked again at the graph and noticed something odd in the far left extreme of the trace.

     " _Panthro_ ," he slowly said. "Invert this graph in both the X and Z axes and convert to R/I imaging. Also, show me the magnitude and Theta vectors." His face paled when the computer complied.

     "Holy _SHIT_!" Panthera exclaimed, having done so with her internal data and instantly recognizing the pattern. She glanced fearfully at the fire-lizard and back to Ryuu.

     "Wh-what's wrong?" Tuck nervously asked after several moments of tense silence. Ryuu slowly turned to face him, still looking pale. What Tuck could see of the monitor was confusing, though pretty. It was awash in the colors of the rainbow, but there was a 'shape' of a bulge jutting out from the right side and a series of brightly colored "bubbles" dripping toward the left. It looked like it should be turned so the right-hand side was on top.

     "Tuck, you said these natives can travel through time, too?" Ryuu asked.

     "Yes," Tuck replied. "But--what's that--?"

     "C-can you have her try to do a temporal jump for us?" Ryuu asked. "Say, about an hour's worth."

     _Stuck halfway_ between _!_ Snap complained.

     "She says she can't," Tuck told him, forgetting that Ryuu could already hear her.

     "Go ahead and try, Little One," Ryuu said. "You don't have to worry about not being able. It won't hurt you. Just put in the effort to jump."

     Resigned, Snap launched into the air and hovered before them. She concentrated on jumping between times. Her eyes flared for a moment, but she remained in the room. Gasping, she flew back over to Tuck's shoulder.

     _Can't--can't jump!_ she exclaimed panting. _Can't jump!_

     "Did you get the data?" Ryuu asked Panthera.

     "I got it," the panther said, staring at the gold creature. Panthera snapped her head about to glare at Ryuu. "It's a perfect match! _Temporal drive!_ In the _Negative_ direction of the K-band, but a perfect match for the Temporal drive! This _is_ the Unification equation! Thought, Space, Time, and Energy! _It's all the same!_ "

     "Certainly a step toward it, anyway," Ryuu agreed.

     "What does that mean?" Tuck asked as he checked Snap over to make sure she hadn't suffered any ill effects.

     "S--something w--we'll discuss later," Ryuu said shakily. "But right now, does this help you guys find a way around their distortion fields?"

     "Indeed it does!" both _Panthro_ and Panthera said together.

     "Although it might take some time to modify our sensors," Panthera added.

     "Understood," Ryuu said walking for the door. He led a thoroughly puzzled Tuck out, taking the gold fire-lizard along with them.

     "So--what was that all about?" he asked.

     "It's just a minor matter," Ryuu muttered.

     "It didn't sound minor," Tuck said, looking closely at the man.

     "Well," Ryuu gestured to the corridor of the ship, "you can see we--my crew and I--we know a bit more about how the Universe works than you colonists."

     "Yes," Tuck replied.

     "Well, the truth is, we _really_ don't know all that much more than you," Ryuu explained. "Other species, however, have learned far more than we have. They're what's called 'Meta-species' because their science goes beyond the mere physical laws of the Universe. Our Creators, for example. And even _THEY_ haven't figured out _Everything_ , although, _THEY_ are very close, while _OTHERS_ , still, are even further along than _THEM_."

     "So what happened just now?" Tuck asked.

     "My crew and I just got one step closer to all of that!" Ryuu said grinning. "Anyhow, that's irrelevant to our mission. But this discovery _has_ helped us learn how to up the resolution and range of our scanners, which _is_ essential to our mission."

     "So you..." Tuck trailed off trying to think of a proper analogy.

     "Found diamonds while digging for gold, and got them both!" Ryuu said. Tuck nodded, _finally_ understanding something that Ryuu said.

 

**Part 8.6:**

 

13.4.26 Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     The next day, Ryuu took them to his personal quarters. He assumed the form of the small dragon again, and being in a good mood resulting from yesterday's discovery, he even tried once more to have the ship play music. This time, however, he selected a collection of the Moody Blues' songs. The results with Snap were much more agreeable to all three.

     "That is such incredible music!" Tuck exclaimed after hearing a couple of songs from the Sur la Mer album. "But I'm getting a little nervous," he said gulping. "These are obviously love songs..."

     _They're not meant for you,_ Ryuu growled at him. The little dragon resumed staring into Snap's eyes and the gold fire-lizard sighed in response.

     "Now I'm _really_ getting nervous!" Tuck muttered. Ryuu paused the playback so they could discuss the issue.

     _You remember how I told you I was born human?_ Ryuu asked still gazing at the fire-lizard. _After I became a dragon, I never felt so alive as I did before then. And all the creatures I learned to become, I had to figure out how to exist as each one from scratch. But I found I still envied all those creatures, especially the dragons,_ Ryuu said as he reached out to caress Snap's neck. _Even as I pitied them,_ he added sadly.

     "Pity?" Tuck asked in confusion. Even Snap's eyes whirled with puzzlement.

     _They were born or hatched to their forms, but they can't appreciate how special they are. They have no idea how beautiful, how noble, and how strong and graceful they are. They can't comprehend how much I envy them, even as I can join them in some small measure._ Snap had to duck her head in embarrassed coyness and Ryuu lovingly began to lick her eye ridges.

     _Can you imagine,_ Ryuu finally said turning to glare at Tuck, _having been born human then suddenly finding yourself with a dragon's body? Suddenly finding you have two extra limbs so much like your arms, but so very different? A neck so flexible that I can literally look over my own shoulder and gaze down my own back? Having a spine so flexible? A_ tail _? Looking through eyes that could no longer_ see _the color blue, but now perceive_ heat _as_ being _blue and violet? And I had to get used to having four sets of hearing organs embedded in various locations on my body. Then later, I learned I could change to a wide variety of life forms and had to learn each of those forms all over again from scratch._

     "Well, I wish that you could reveal yourselves to our world," Tuck replied. "I know you think our leaders would attack you, but shells, man! This music alone would put you in our gratitude for Turns to come!"

     _That would be impossible,_ Ryuu told him shaking his head. _However, you might get some ideas for your people and take some of this back with you,_ Ryuu said, glaring at him.

     "ME?" Tuck exclaimed. "Oh, no! That's impossible, too! The one you want is one of the masters! Robinton--or Domick. The complexity is right up there with his skills. Or even that girl, Menolly! She's good with improvising new tunings! Not me!"

     _Why not?_ Ryuu asked. _You get to astound your boss with some new gigs._

     "Well, I've got an assignment, and notoriety is not all that beneficial to that career," Tuck explained. The little dragon grinned.

     _And we both know how well you've done your job lately,_ Ryuu viciously said as he resumed the playback.

     "Funny," Tuck grumbled. "But we also both know you're _not_ my usual type of assignment."

     Touché _,_ Ryuu bowed his head, still grinning. The next song, "River of Endless Love," was substantially different from the first two. The music was powerful and the words had a decidedly emotionally determined message. Snap raised up to send her voice to match the challenge with fiery whirling orbs. Ryuu watched her, sighing for the four-and-a-half minutes the song played.

     "Where did such music come from?" Tuck asked astounded.

     _Hundreds of years before your people left Terra to come here,_ Ryuu said as he tapped out instructions to change the next selection. _There was a period where groups of musicians created songs just for the sake of making music or maybe to put out some social and political message. They competed, mutually inspired each other, and sometimes collaborated with one another. It was a good time for music, even if little else was good back on Terra._

     The next song to play was "Gypsy" from the album "To our Children's, Children's, Children." As Tuck had to strain to catch the words sung by Justin Hayward, it took time for it to sink in what their meaning implied. When it did, he looked at Ryuu in astonishment.

     _Prophetic bastards, weren't they?_ Ryuu asked with a wink.

     "Were you...?" Tuck began.

     _Actually, I was alive when this group was making music, but I hadn't yet been modified. Oh, here's one,_ Ryuu said as he entered new commands to the console by his bed.

     _After that little disaster with Rush the other day, I had to listen to something to calm down,_ Ryuu explained. _When I heard this, for some reason, I couldn't help but thinking of Ruth._

     The song Ryuu chose this time was "Nights in White Satin" and after hearing it, Tuck had to laugh.

     "Yes, I guess that does fit," he said.

     As another song, "And the Tide Rushes In," played, Tuck looked about the room, curious about all the rows and rows of well-worn books lining shelves built into the walls. He had noted them when they arrived, but had held his curiosity in check until now. He stood to look at the bindings, and saw to his amazement how a descriptive title was neatly printed on the spines of each book. They even presumably had the name of the author listed next to each title.

     _So many books! So many different titles and subjects! How can he keep track of them all?_ he wondered. But he soon saw a pattern in the arrangement: they were all sorted alphabetically by the last name of the author.

     He straightened up after stooping to look at the lower shelves to walk back to the bed and was puzzled yet again. The set of shelves closest to the bed broke the pattern, although within that set, Ryuu kept the same arrangement of clustering books by the same author together, as it was on the other shelves. However, the order of authors seemed totally random. Jack L. Chalker, J. R. R. Tolkien, Piers Anthony, Joel Rosenberg, R. A. Salvatore, a series of books authored by different people but had the same subject: Dragonlance. He followed the levels down the set, seeing names like John Varley, John Cleve, Gordon R. Dickson. Tuck reached out to select one, this by Cleve called Jonuta Rising.

     _You don't want to pick any of those by_ him _,_ Ryuu said with an amused tone. _His writings will melt your brain!_ Tuck instantly snatched his hand away and gulped. He returned to sit on the side of the bed without choosing anything else as another song played.

 

**Part 8.7:**

 

13.4.27 Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     In the late morning of the seventh day on board the ship, _Panthro_ called to Ryuu, still in his smallest dragon form, sleeping on his bed.

     "Ryuu, it appears we have a problem with the colonist and his native."

     Ryuu sleepily opened his eyes and looked about in confusion. He saw he was alone in his quarters.

     _What?_ he wondered, giving a vocal bark to his question.

     "The native is trying to get at the Secondary Psionic Amplifier," the ship told him when it saw Ryuu was awake.

     A sinking feeling suddenly gnawed at the pit of his stomach.

     _Oh, no! Not Snap!_ Ryuu exclaimed leaping up to take wing.

     The ship cooperated in opening doors as he approached them and within a few minutes, he arrived at the vault doors enclosing the sword with its blue crystal in the hilt.

     Tuck was there, trying to get his fingers into the seal between the doors. But what concerned Ryuu when he arrived was the doors were already pried apart by a few decihoramters. He heard groaning metal and the pneumatics straining. Snap was there, hovering behind Tuck screaming.

     _Set me free!_ she screeched. _Set me FREE!_

     _What the bloody flames?_ Ryuu exclaimed pausing to stare at the sight.

     "The native apparently has natural telekinetic abilities," _Panthro_ told him when the computer noticed his startled pause.

     _Evidently, the Psionic Amplifier is assisting her,_ Ryuu considered seeing how the vault doors were being warped.

     Snap started at the sound of the ship's voice. She looked about and spotted Ryuu.

     _DAMN YOU! SET ME FREE!_ she screamed charging him.

     _Let go of her!_ Ryuu roared back rushing to meet her. _Let go of Snap, you Bitch!_

     Snap's eyes flared with light, and Ryuu felt a force suddenly grab him. He found himself hurtling back down the corridor to slam into the bulkhead at the far end. The impact, sounding like a cannon, actually embedded him into the metal, breaking nearly every bone in his body.

     Snap, still flying after him, was blinded by the searing glare of the Gateway. By the time she could see again, Ryuu had grabbed her in his huge talons, having taken the form of his largest dragon to combat the menace.

     Before Snap could employ her telekinesis again, Ryuu was already burrowing into her mind.

     _Get out! GET OUT YOU BITCH! LET SNAP_ GO _!_ GET OUT OF HER MIND! Ryuu shouted. Snap let out a whimpering cry, but Ryuu didn't let up. He chased the retreating vestiges of the alien presence through the routes of the fire-lizard's brain. Not neglecting her link to Tuck, Ryuu wing-walked up to the man as he carried the fire-lizard in his grasp. He pulled the man away from the vault doors and applied the claws of his other hand to Tuck's face.

     _Let go of them both_ NOW _!_ Ryuu commanded, chasing the invading entity away. After about several hours of pitting his force of will against that of the crystal matrix, Ryuu was able to confine the entity to a small corner of their minds. He knew he could not eradicate the alien influence, but he could contain it and apply his own influence to help protect the man and the native.

     After that, he gently laid Tuck down on the deck and cradled the limp form of the fire-lizard.

     _Oh, Snap! How I most assuredly did not want this to happen to you!_ he spoke apologetically to her as he gently continued to lick the unconscious fire-lizard, crying the whole time.

     Once freed of the danger of harming Tuck, _Panthro_ used its matter-manipulating systems to restore the vault doors to their proper shape. The repairs were finished by the time Ryuu concluded his telepathic struggle and the ship was able to finally close them and seal the latching bolts again. At the sound of the closing, Ryuu's echoing scream filled the corridor.

 

     "Will they be alright?" Wolf gently asked. Ryuu stood there several moments staring at them lying on the bed in the Sickbay. He had reverted to human form to stand over Tuck and Snap and wait for their recovery.

     "No," Ryuu bitterly replied. "They won't. They won't ever be all right. That thing's infected them, and there's no way to drive it out." He turned to glare at the other man.

     "AND ALL BECAUSE NONE OF YOU BASTARDS WOULD GIVE SO MUCH AS THE TIME OF DAY TO WATCH THEM WHILE I DID MAINTENANCE ON THAT BLOODY, BITCHING CRYSTAL!" he angrily shouted at Wolf.

     "I don't think so, Ryuu!" Wolf said, holding his own fiery temper in check as well as the volume of his voice. "You're not the only one with a telepathic dragon form. I happen to know just what kind of 'maintenance' you were doing!"

     "Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it!" Ryuu growled through gnashing teeth. "And it wouldn't have hurt you one little bit to have kept an eye on them while I did my business, now would it?"

     "No," Wolf finally admitted. "No, it wouldn't have. And I'm sorry. I truly am." Wolf turned to leave, but stopped just as he reached the door.

     "I have to ask you, though," he said, turning back to face Ryuu. "What would've happened if he hadn't agreed to help us? Since they wouldn't agree to a memory wipe, would you have killed them?" Ryuu snorted.

     "Are you kidding?" he asked. "I would've happily showed them the inside of a stasis chamber until we reached the Dragon Homeworld. Now, I _still_ have to wipe their memories. That is, if they ever wake up."

     "I see," Wolf said, nodding as he departed, leaving Ryuu to keep watch.

     Ryuu pulled up a chair beside the bed and after sitting, picked up the limp gold fire-lizard and stretched her out on his belly and chest.

     "Poor Snap. Maybe it'd be more merciful if you never do," he whispered as he stroked her. The tears began to flow. "But I'm such a greedy, selfish dragon. And you're such a precious golden treasure. But you're only valuable while alive. And I'm a stupid old wyrm. If not for that bloody thing amplifying your abilities--"

     "Ryuu," the _Panthro_ gently cut in. "The matrix never got the chance to amplify her telekinesis." Ryuu blinked away his tears in confusion.

     "What--?" he asked looking up toward where he knew camera to be.

     "The Primary crystal was still suppressing the Secondary," the ship explained. "It had only infected their minds to force them to make the attempt to release it. But the crystal never got the chance to actually assist in its own escape."

     "What are you saying?" Ryuu asked. "I saw her pulling the vault doors apart with her teek. How could she do that unless the crystal was assisting her?"

     "The native's own telekinesis was the sole force working on opening them," _Panthro_ reported. "She had evidently sensed the locations of the securing bolts and forced them to withdraw before I could react. I surmise she may have noted their location when I had the doors open. I was barely holding my own against her prying the doors apart. But there was no surge of power from the Secondary crystal and the Primary matrix was maintaining suppression." Ryuu looked at Snap with newfound respect.

     "Not even our monitors could do that!" he exclaimed.

     "Indeed, even with their own interal Gateways supplying power," _Panthro_ agreed. "In fact, in addition to the pneumatic hinges, I have eight tractor emitters embedded in both the doors and the back wall of the vault for just such contingencies. Each emitter is twice as powerful as those possessed by your monitors. As it was, I was barely holding the doors shut. Had you not shown up when you did, she might very well have succeeded in prying them open."

     Ryuu laughed in wonder. He gently picked up the end of her forked tail and peered at it. "What other little tricks you got stuffed up in there?" he asked the unconscious fire-lizard. Then Ryuu scowled as he looked back up at the camera. "During that chase, I noted that Ruth apparently has some telekinetic abilities, too. But he seemed unaware of them. If _she_ can do _that_ , just imagine what the big ones could do!"

     "She may not be aware of her abilities, either," _Panthro_ observed. "Remember, her mind was being controlled by the matrix. It may have figured out she had the means to assist in an escape attempt."

     "Yes," Ryuu agreed, resuming his gentle caresses on the fire-lizard. "That bitch is subtle and more insidious than a cancer. At least with cancer, you can cut it out, treat it with drugs, irradiate it, or even transport it out. But _how_ can you kill a _thought_?"

 

     "Wh-wh-what happened?" Tuck weakly whispered, wondering how he got there.

     "We've got a little problem," Ryuu spoke out from where he was sitting in a chair beside the bed. He was still stroking the comatose Snap lying on his lap. Ryuu looked up and Tuck could see tears streaming down his face. He looked like he had been crying for hours.


	9. Part 9

**Part 9:**

 

Present Pass 13.4.28, Harperhall:

     "Tuck!" Sebell yelled startling him. "Shells, man! Where have you been? We've been looking all over Pern for you!"

     "I--I can't recall," Tuck finally said. "Ryuu and Puma were captured by Thella. I went to assist, and I saw Thella knife him. But then Ryuu had one of those devices you were worried about. He used it to kill some of Thella's people." His face scrunched up as he tried to remember the details. "I--I r-remember--there was a gold dragon with a flamethrower strapped to her arm--but I can't recall anything else."

     Kimi checked with Snap, but the other queen confirmed what her friend told them.

     "What's the first thing you do remember?" Sebell asked as he guided Tuck back into the room.

     "Waking up here," Tuck finally said after having to search his memory. He recalled there was a strange image of a red-haired woman in chains and fire, but then every time it surfaced, it just as quickly evaded his thoughts, chased away by a triangular red eye with a silvery slitted pupil. "Nothing!" he finally said.

 

     Sebell and Tuck walked out to the bronze dragon and rider who landed in the field.

     "D'nek!" Sebell called, having recognized the rider from previous times that they had met. He tried to recall the dragon's name, but couldn't.

     _Zagenth,_ Kimi reminded him. _Nice one!_

     "And Zagenth is looking fine!" Sebell added. The rider grinned and shook hands with him.

     "And getting near as clever as a dragonrider, Sebell," D'nek replied with a wink. Then he frowned. "Is the MasterHarper not coming? I was instructed to bring him to the Conclave."

     "Uh, Master Robinton's not yet returned from his investigations. I'm to come in his stead," Sebell replied. "Also, this is Tuck," he added as he introduced the two. D'nek's face registered surprise.

     "You're the missing man that was sent out to follow Ryuu!" D'nek exclaimed. "When did you get back?"

     "We're hoping Lessa can help us with that," Sebell said. D'nek raised his eyebrows to that.

 

Fort Weyr:

     _Happy Red-eye!_ Snap screamed. _Evil Blue-eye!_

     Lessa got the image of a screaming red haired woman bound by chains and surrounded by flames. Only the woman wasn't screaming in agony, but rage. A blood-red triangular eye with a slitted pupil of silver suddenly interposed itself on the scene and Lessa was startled as she saw it was a dragon's eye, but unlike any dragon she had ever seen before.

     With a gasp, Lessa broke off her search of Tuck's mind and shook in uncontrolled terror.

     _Lessa!_ she heard someone call her. _Lessa! I'm here! We're here!_ Nothing _is_ between _!_ Only belatedly did she realize it was Ramoth and Mnementh who were calling her.

     "Are you alright?" F'lar asked with concern etched in his voice and face. N'ton and his weyrmate stood a few paces away exchanged nervous glances with each other. Lessa quickly nodded.

     "I--I-I think I just saw Ryuu's gold!" she whispered still shaking. "The one Ruth chased."

     "With a flamethrower strapped to her arm," F'lar muttered nodding his head. "Well that explains one aspect to what Ruth saw."

     "Were you able to find out anything more?" Sebell asked.

     "No," Lessa drawled out thoughtfully. "It's very odd. Ryuu's dragon must've gotten into his mind and blanked out what happened during Tuck's encounter with them. Not only Tuck's mind, but little Snap's, too. I've never seen anything like it!"

     "Could it be Ryuu, himself?" F'lar asked. "A male Ruathan with as much power as you, if not more?"

     "It could be," Lessa admitted with an intake of breath and shrugged her shoulders. "If so, then probably with lots more than I have."

     Just then, they heard their dragons roar and the muted echo of a dragon answered.

     "D'ram and Fanna have arrived," N'ton explained to Sebell's unasked question. "This will have to wait until after we've talked.

     "Understood," Sebell sadly replied, looking at his friend.

     "How are you feeling?" Sebell asked Tuck while the dragonriders exchanged pleasantries. He sat down in the chair Lessa vacated to speak with him eye-to-eye.

     "I'm alright," Tuck huffed in frustration. "Except for this loss of a sevenday, I might never have known anything _was_ wrong. I think Lessa's pushing has done more to wear me out."

     Suddenly F'lar and Lessa exclaimed. Sebell and Tuck looked up to see all the dragonriders whirl on them.

     "What's wrong?" Sebell asked getting to his feet as they rushed up to them.

     "D'ram's just told us about a weyrling that apparently has a connection to Ryuu!" F'lar said.

     "What?" Sebell exclaimed.

     "The man's name is T'khill!" D'ram said. "He and his wife, Maleer have been overheard conversing with Ryuu!"

     "When can we go?" N'ton asked. "If Ryuu and his people are trying to acquire dragons..." Everyone started speaking at once and the rest of what N'ton said was lost, as was most of what everyone else was saying as they all competed to be heard. It took Sebell's shrill whistle to restore order.

     "Sorry, everyone, but we've no time for this," Sebell apologized. "D'ram, where are those two now?"

     "They're under watch, confined to the barracks," the Istan Weyrleader replied.

     "Can we get there immediately?" Lessa asked very anxiously.

     "Yes," D'ram said testily. "But before we go, I've got to know just what under the Red Star is going on? Who is this Ryuu and what's he done?"

     As the Fort and Benden Weyrleaders, helped by Sebell, explained it to D'ram, Tuck unobtrusively separated himself to the rear chamber of N'ton's weyr. Once out of sight, he tapped an ornamental pin hidden beneath his tunic while Snap kept watch.

     "Ryuu!" he whispered hoarsely. "Have you heard?"

     "Indeed I have!" Ryuu's low voice replied coming from the gold pin. "I'm on it right now! Canleé Orders!"

     Tuck blinked several times in confusion, puzzled by why he had gone to the rear chambers. Then he suddenly remembered and made his way to the necessary. After he finished his business, he returned to the dragonriders. By this time, D'ram had been updated as to what Ryuu was about and was as eager to lead them back to his Weyr.

 

Ista Weyr:

     Maleer and T'khill's transponders buzzed at the same instant with the code demanding they respond immediately.

     "And so, it begins," T'khill nervously gulped and glanced at the brown rider assigned to watch them sitting a couple of beds away. He pressed the area where the transponder had been injected to signal back that it was impossible to use their communications equipment.

     The coded urgent signal vibrated beneath their skin again. It was almost painful and Stealth cocked his head to the subsonic noise coming from T'khill's arm.

     "We don't have many options available," Maleer whispered as she slowly pulled out her weapon. The call came again, more forcefully, as if whoever was sending had upped the volume, and it _was_ painful this time.

     _Is that Ryuu?_ Stealth asked, hissing at the noise that only he could hear.

     "By my shell, I hope not!" T'khill whispered, again tapping his reply onto his skin.

     "Is anything wrong?" G'kar asked approaching them. He had been alerted by the bronze dragonet's apparent agitation.

     "No, nothing is wrrong," Maleer said stepping up to him. The man never saw the flash from the small teardrop-shaped object she held between her thumb and crooked first finger. T'khill quickly jumped up to assist her in catching the dragonrider and they laid him on their bed.

     Again, the buzzing under their skin pulsed and they both yelped from the intensity of the vibrations. Stealth roared in protest.

     "HEY! WE WERRE A LITTLE BUSY!" Maleer yelled into her comm badge.

     "So sorry to disrupt your full schedules of important appointments, but the _three_ of you have to pull your tails out _NOW_!" Ryuu's voice softly came back. Except for his last word. And even as the first sound of his voice chilled their spines, the subtle stress Ryuu placed on their number wasn't lost on them either.

     "Oh, squit!" T'khill whined.

     "Are ya'll ready to transport yet?" Ryuu asked. "Or do you _really_ wish to meet the planetary leadership and explain who the hell we really are and what we're doing there bonding with every native we come across? Better decide right this horond, because they're about to walk through the door the very next!"

     "W-we'rr-re rr-rready," Maleer said fearfully.

     "No we're not," T'khill whispered.

 

     D'ram led F'lar and Lessa along with the other Weyrleaders and the two Harpers to the barracks when they paused at the noise.

     "What's that?" Lessa asked astonished. It sounded to her like a cross between a dragon and a fire-lizard humming for Hatching. Sebell realized he had heard that sound before and he looked at Tuck. The man seemed as puzzled as everyone else. The noise quickly faded, and D'ram reached for the barracks doors. Inside, they found the brown rider asleep on the nearest bunk but no sign of the weyrling, his dragon, or his wife.

     An investigation could find no sign of them having left, and G'kar had been unconscious for only a few minutes based on what his brown dragon, Narnth, told them. From the rider's account, there was no denying he had been attacked. However, the weyrhealer could find no injury on G'kar. He even denied any pain to his neck when Tuck suggested the technique Ryuu claimed to have used on him.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     They arrived on the transport platform in the empty chamber. Stealth looked about in fascination.

     _What a strange way to go_ between _,_ the bronze observed. Then suddenly, the dragonet cried out in terror.

     "Stealth!" T'khill cried as he rushed to his bronze. "What's wrong?"

     "Temporal and Psionic Shields restored," the _Panthro_ announced.

     "Your young friend is just having his first taste of being stuck halfway _between_ ," Ryuu said as he entered the Transporter Room. He stopped several paces in and stood to glare at them. "Don't worry about him. He'll get used to it. Worry about yourselves."

     "Rryuu, let me explain..." M'leer began. But the mention of Ryuu's name galvanized the little bronze into action.

     _RYUU! STOP HURTING MY FRIEND!_ the dragonet screamed as he launched himself past T'khill and M'leer.

     "STEALTH! NO!" T'khill shouted but it was too late. Even Ryuu was caught by surprise. He barely had time to react and brace for the impact before the dragonet's teeth and claws sliced into him.

     "STEALTH!" both M'leer and T'khill cried out in horror. They ran to pull Stealth off Ryuu.

     At their touch, the bronze halted his attack and suddenly realized how badly he had hurt one of the humans, even one as hated as Ryuu.

     _I'm sorry!_ Stealth cried backing off the man. _I just wanted him to stop hurting T'khill!_

     M'leer looked at Ryuu as T'khill continued to pull Stealth back. The man was hissing and growling from the pain of his torn flesh. And he was angry. His face was furious. But she saw he was holding back from using the Gateway even as copious amounts of blood was pouring out onto the deck.

     "Hairrballs!" she hissed stepping back. "T'khill! Look out!" she yelled.

     "What?" T'khill asked as he continued to push his dragon away. Only he didn't realize what her warning meant when Ryuu suddenly began roaring as he lay mortally wounded. The electric shock jolted both him and Stealth the same instant he was blinded from the flash. His dragon's screams of pain were drowned out by the roar of the larger dragon that was now Ryuu.

     _THAT IS_ ENOUGH _!_ Ryuu shouted painfully into their minds.

     _RYUU! STOP HURTING T'KHILL!_ Stealth roared back as he was blinking away the spots in his eyes.

     Rushing past M'leer, Ryuu uttered a loud deeply throaty growl as the dragonet's final warning by going snout-to-snout with the little creature and baring all his long sharp teeth beneath a furiously wrinkled snout. Stealth's vision finally cleared enough to see what he was facing and he nervously gulped.

     _Squit and flame me!_ the bronze whimpered.

     "Rr-rr-ryuu--" M'leer hesitantly began trying to gently defuse the tense situation. Her little purrs always calmed him down in the past. She fervently hoped they still would.

     _And_ you _, M'leer! Of all people!_ Ryuu yelled jerking his snout only marginally in her direction. _You never bothered to let me know that T'khill bonded with one of these creatures? In that, I'm_ extremely _disappointed with you!_

     She gulped nervously and felt ashamed. He had always treated her with care and considered her one of his best friends.

     "I-I'm sorr-rr-rry," she murmured, still stressing her purrs. "I didn't want T'khill to get in trr-r-rrouble."

     _Oh, it's gone well beyond_ him _getting in trouble,_ Ryuu growled. When Stealth winced again from the larger dragon, Ryuu decided the creature had enough. He pulled his face from the native's.

     _Fortunately, for the both of you, it looks like we finally get one of these creatures for study,_ Ryuu said. _Now what's this crap about me hurting T'khill?_ he demanded sitting back to glare at them.

     "You know when one uses the Gateway," M'leer explained, "the rr-r-rrest of us all feel the feedback. Stealth didn't like you using it so often."

     _You're kidding?_ Ryuu snapped. _Those little jolts?_

     _You hurt T'khill!_ Stealth cried. _T'khill, make him stop hurting you!_

     "Stealth, I said you, it's a needed thing," T'khill told the bronze.

     " _'I_ told _you, it's a_ necessarry _thing',_ " M'leer and Ryuu simultaneously said.

     _Was that_ two _in one sentence?_ Ryuu suddenly asked her.

     "It was," M'leer sighed, "and he's been getting worrse!"

     _T'khill! You told me you can hurt Ryuu the same way! Do it!_ Stealth told him.

     Ryuu snorted.

     _Sure, go ahead,_ the gold dragon sighed.

     "Watch your eyes, Little One," T'khill told his bronze. The young bronze closed his eyes. When the flash came, for an instant, he thought his rider was dead and the bronze dragon quickly opened in eyes in fear. The sight that greeted Stealth stunned the dragonet.

     "Stealth?" T'khill asked. "Are you okay?"

     _Y-y-you lo-look like a-a wherry,_ the bronze dragonet sadly said.

     Ryuu stared at M'leer in confusion when she suddenly burst out laughing.

 

     Stealth found Ryuu to be a surprisingly nice person after their initial misunderstanding. It was still quite a shock about T'khill though. The small dragon couldn't take his eyes off the new appearance of his rider.

     The metal tunnels were very roomy and warmly lit as the gold (male?) dragon led them to a place where Ryuu promised Stealth could eat, bathe, and be oiled. The chamber sported a rather large odd black feline that could talk but was friendly to him. He was soon settled down in a bed they created from _between_ while the talking feline asked T'khill and M'leer lots of questions about him, how he was Impressed, and what was needed to help Stealth grow. The bronze dragon didn't mind this life, except for the odd feeling that he couldn't go _between_. But then, it was still too early for him to wonder about how to do that....

 

Site of the Original Settlement:

     Ryuu, M'leer, Puma, and Wolf looked about when the confinement beams released them after transport. The four arrived on the top of a hill, surrounded by several identical mounds covered by lush vegetation consisting of native grasses and wild flowering plants, but few trees, and those were confined to the shallow valleys between the mounds. Lupus and Pardus were there to greet them.

     "I got the report that you've located the computer," Ryuu said to them. "I didn't think your sensors had improved enough for that yet."

     "So far, range has been extended about thirty horamters," the timber wolf replied. "We're still making modifications. But it was not our higher order sensors that located it. Our sonar scans did." The wolf and panther led the way.

     Ryuu looked up toward the high sun in the sky, noting a flock of natives engaged in aerial acrobatics. He shielded his eyes to try to get a better look. A couple of gold fire-lizards were pursued by several dozen bronzes, browns, and even a couple of blues.

     _A real mating flight,_ Ryuu though, sighing. _Too bad. Business before pleasure._

     "How are we going to be able to conceal that creature?" Puma asked distracting Ryuu from the activities of the natives.

     "Concealing the native's not going to be a problem," Ryuu told her. "However, getting accurate instructions for Stealth's care and training will be. Remember, these things can kill us if they have an accident while doing their teleports. I don't think T'khill has gotten sufficient training, has he?" Ryuu asked M'leer. She still winced, even though he had not spoken harshly to her since his discovery.

     "N-no, he has not," she acknowledged.

     "Well, that's more for our people to do, especially those hanging about the regional capitols," Ryuu said. "We've got to get that information as much as we need to identify that girl."

     "And we're just going to keep that _ki-ta-nai_ creature on the ship?" Puma asked.

     "Ah--yep," Ryuu replied raising his eyebrows in surprise. "Unless you've got some better place to keep him? Besides, Panthera and the ship need to check him over. They'll compare him to the data we got from Snap, and it's essential for upping the scanners' range."

     The group followed the monitors through the valley formed by a buried avenue to a much larger mound.

     "Do you know where the door is?" Wolf asked pulling out his weapon.

     "I don't think we should uncover the structure, Wolf," Ryuu said. "We're not supposed to interfere with this planet's development. The colonists might find this place someday."

     "Then how are we getting in?" Wolf asked.

     "Transport, naturally," Ryuu replied.

     "I would advise erecting sufficient pattern enhancers to offset the subspacial distortions before attempting to transport," Pardus said. "In addition, from what we can read of the interior environment, the atmosphere is nearly pure nitrogen. No free oxygen remains. You'll need respirators."

     "Understood," Ryuu said. "Once we're in, we'll need portable power generators and good scans of the power feeds to make sure we don't blow all the computer's circuits when we hook up the interface. With any luck, we'll be able to get the list of all the original colonists."

 

Fort Weyr:

     "I know I've heard that sound before," Sebell told the Weyrleaders. "It sounds remarkably like fire-lizards humming for a Hatching, but not exactly. And quite frequently, when I've heard it, all the fire-lizards say something about Ryuu coming or going. The last time was this morning when Tuck showed up in Ryuu's room!"

     "I don't recall ever hearing that before," Tuck complained.

     "That's not surprising, given what Ryuu must've done to your mind," Lessa stated.

     "So how's he getting in and out?" Sebell asked.

     A deep resonant humming began sounding through the rock and everyone looked about in surprise.

     "Looks like we're about to find out!" N'ton shouted jumping from his chair.

     "What the--?" Lessa exclaimed when she suddenly figured out where the sound originated. Fire-lizards mixed with the deep hum from dragons. "Not this time! _That really is a Hatching!_ " she said pointing at N'ton's Tris.

     "Hatching?" Margata yelled. "It's early! By a full sevenday!"

     "The dragons have never been wrong about it before!" Lessa said, rushing out the chamber.

 

     The Weyr scrambled, and to Sherri it looked like orderly chaos. She tried to locate Mike, but couldn't. One of the Weyr residents urged her to hurry. She held back as much as she could and finally spied him coming from the kitchen cavern.

     "Mike!" she called. "Where have you been?"

     "Been testing a theory," he said, looking a little bit distracted and a bit more nervous.

     "Come on! The dragons all say the eggs are hatching! We shouldn't miss this," Sherri said grabbing him. "Ryuu'll want to know all about it!"

     Mike and Sherri were some of the last ones there and the only seats available were high and back from the Hatching ground. They found a spot to observe just in time to see K'nebel escorting the male and female candidates onto the heated sands.

 

     Lisa was a little hesitant about going through with this.

     _Last chance to change our mind,_ Lisa nervously thought.

     Oddly enough, all the other girls seemed equally nervous about going out there. K'nebel urged them to present themselves to the queen when she hatched. Resigned that there seem no other way to avoid the aliens hunting her, Lisa led the way.

 

     She knew there was something _beyond_. Her world recently had become uncomfortably small and pressed upon her.

     Occasionally, she felt a presence, several in fact, calling to her. But One seemed to stand out as exceptional. There was a quality of strength, wisdom, kindness, and a strange loneliness despite the fact this One seemed to be linked with Others--so many Others--yet the One still called to her.

     It had become so hard to breath, and it was cramped, and she wanted _OUT_! Then the humming began and the noise shook her existence. Her arms and legs were folded uncomfortably along her body, and she had to twist her limbs about to use them to push against the wall, to push her way _beyond_! The wall wouldn't budge and in desperation, she made digging motions to try and break through. Her legs kicked, and her hands scratched at the wall on either side of her snout, and even her wings pressed out. She also put her back, tail, and head into the effort. She could tell the One was just _beyond_ -and-- _She---WANTED----_

     _\-----_ OUT _!_ she screamed as the wall suddenly shattered before her face. She had to blink against the strong light suddenly hitting her eyes, where before there had only been a soft glow. And _AIR!_ She could _breathe!_ She screamed at the joy of being free from such uncomfortable confinement. As her eyes became adjusted to the brightness, she could make out shapes of different colors about her.

     She turned her head searching for the One. There was a large gold shape and presence behind her. The presence was known to her and the shape seemed somehow familiar. But this was not the One.

     Loud cracking noises got her attention and she saw smaller versions of the big one, but with different colors, behind her breaking out of their confinement. She knew them, too. But none of them was the One she was searching for.

     She sighted strange, upright creatures. _Somewhere among them,_ she could tell. She tried to move toward the creatures. Her arms and legs had difficulty carrying her, weak from the effort to hatch. She fell down numerous times into hot sand. The gritty substance, which might otherwise be pleasant to wallow in, only served to hinder her movements. And hunger biting into her stomach added to her discomfort. She screamed for the One to help her.

     One of the strange creatures approached and somehow gracefully folded itself to help her to her hands and feet. She looked into the creature's eyes.

     _Lisa!_ Voith suddenly cried. _I FOUND YOU!_

     Lisa smiled even as tears flowed from her eyes.

     _You don't need to be sad!_ the gold dragonet told her. _You don't need to feel lonely anymore! I'm with you! But I'm awful hungry! I'm tired, but very,_ VERY _hungry!_

     "I know," Lisa quietly said. "I'll get you something very soon." _I just hope I've done the right thing!_ Lisa thought.

     _I'll help you! I will! There are Others, but I'm with you! You'll never be lonely again!_ Voith promised. _But right now, I'm_ HUNGRY _!_

     "Of course!" Lisa laughed. "Let's go," she said, leading her dragon toward the exit.

 

     "Congratulations! She looks very healthy!" Lessa said to Lisa. The Benden Weyrwoman and Weyrleader walked hand-in-hand as they followed the Fort Weyrleaders from one to another of the newly Impressed.

     "Thank you, Lessa," Lisa said, curtseying the best she could from where she knelt as she fed her queen. "I hope she grows as large as Ramoth." Then she nearly winced at her lack of tact.

     "No you don't," Lessa said as her smile disappeared, but the twinkle in her eyes didn't depart. "You're not any bigger than I am, and Ramoth is WAY too big for me to scrub her sufficiently."

     "Oh, is that why you always get me to help?" F'lar snapped at her.

     "Yes," she said, nudging him in the ribs. "But then I always have to help with Mnementh, and _he's_ not any better! So what's her name?" she asked, turning her attention back to Lisa.

     "Her name's Voith," Lisa said with a gulp. She knew the Weyrwoman could hear her queen, but she was being courteous to Lisa. "And my name's Lisa," she added, knowing too that was what the Weyrwoman really wanted. Both Lessa and F'lar blinked in surprise.

     "I can see why she wants Voith to grow as large as yours," F'lar teased.

     "So what Hold are you from?" Lessa asked throwing a scowling glance back at her weyrmate. "And if you say Ruatha..."

     "I come from Fort," Lisa said with a shy smile.

     "Close enough!" F'lar laughed. "You weren't a drudge there, were you?"

     "F'lar!" Lessa barked with an elbow shot to his ribs. "Well, don't you worry, Lisa. Voith will grow to a rightly sized dragon. Again, congratulations!" They moved on to greet the other weyrlings and Lisa breathed a sigh of relief. They all thought _she_ was named for Lessa. _If only they knew..._ she thought as she resumed feeding her gold.

     Lisa was vicariously aware of the others who had Impressed, including Jorgun, J'gun now, who had Impressed a bronze named Achorrath.

 

     "Robinton's not going to be happy about missing that!" Lessa told Sebell when they resumed their interrupted meeting. "Any word on when he's getting back?"

     "He sent word that he started back this morning," Sebell told her. He chose his words carefully with some of the Oldtimer Weyrleaders present. "He's hoping MasterSmith Fandarel can help piece together some of what he found. If Ryuu has found something that can do us damage?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.

     "I've never seen his like before," D'ram said passing the drawing to his contemporaries. The others said the same.

     "He's too old for him to have been born since you came forward," F'lar said. "He must've come with T'ron or T'kul."

     "But for him to have Impressed a _gold_?" R'mart exclaimed incredulously. "It's unheard of!"

     "And I can imagine T'kul's reaction if he had!" D'ram snorted.

     Sebell impatiently tapped a toe inside his boot as he shifted his gaze from F'lar, N'ton, Lessa, and back. F'lar noticed the Harper's nervousness when he locked eyes with him at one point during the discussion. He subtly nodded to indicate they would talk after the meeting.

     The discussion continued for two more hours before the Conclave adjourned. Finally, D'ram and the other Oldtimers left and Sebell could breathe easy.

     "Alright, what is it?" F'lar asked him. Lessa, Margata, and N'ton stood by. Tuck also stayed.

     Sebell was still nervous about bringing up the idea, but Robinton had agreed when he finally sent Zair with a reply to his message.

     "Master Robinton asks if you might consider the possibility that Ryuu isn't an Oldtimer," Sebell told them. The four Weyrleaders all raised their eyebrows at that.

     "If he's not an Oldtimer..." N'ton began.

     "What about that gold he's got?" Lessa angrily cut in.

     "Wait a minute!" F'lar yelled. "Let the man speak."

     "Thank you, F'lar," Sebell said. "Master Robinton is trying to keep an open mind, but nothing about Ryuu makes sense. Neither T'ron nor T'kul would've tolerated a man Impressing a queen dragon, not the traditionalists they claim to be. But undoubtedly, Ryuu and his people are able to come and go without anyone seeing how. That could only be done if they've got more than one dragon. His capturing Master Tuck and somehow altering his memories indicates he has Power, and lots of it! Having such Power might explain how he came to have a gold, but again, not if he was Oldtimer. And besides, we would've heard about _that_ from Toric or our own people!"

     "That bronze weyrling," Lessa muttered. "He claimed he timed on himself."

     "That's what Master Robinton wonders," Sebell said. "He thinks it's possible that Ryuu and his people timed from the future."

     "For what?" N'ton exclaimed.

     "That's what we're trying to find out," Tuck said. "At the moment, we've lost track of all of them. Ryuu's gold and that bronze T'khill got may be just the tip. There's Wolf, Puma, and Arye to consider."

     "And don't forget the weyrling's mate, what's her name?" Margata asked. They all tried to remember.

     "Maleer," Lessa was the one to finally recall the name.

     "Six, at least," Sebell pointed out.

     "Could they be desperate for dragons like we were?" F'lar suddenly asked. "That T'khill Impressed _here_! And Ruth reported that gold looked _deformed_!"

     "Timing could explain that," Sebell pointed out.

     "You mean if they only had enough dragons to come back with candidates to Impress dragons from _our_ time?" N'ton asked.

     "Ryuu did say he considered Ruth special," F'lar said. "Maybe it's more than that."

     "No!" Tuck spoke up. "He said the _fire-lizards_ hold Ruth with a reverence they don't give his sire and dam!"

     "I don't buy it!" Lessa suddenly said. "If, _if_ , the dragons in the future are endangered that they need our dragons, they wouldn't be happy to see Ruth! Yet, Ryuu acts like that? That fight with Dorse you told me about? It can only _be_ an act! I still think he's trying to harm Jaxom!"

     "Or _Ruth_!" F'lar suggested. "If he's the harbinger of problems down the road for dragonriders...?"

     "But Ryuu doesn't seem to be worried," Tuck said. "He seems to be taking his time in getting about."

     "If they're timing, they may feel like they've got all the time in the world," F'lar said. "Part of F'nor's problem when they went back in time, aside from existing twice, was the boredom of sitting about waiting for the dragons to mature. They had tried to stay out of anyone's sight. But Ryuu isn't. He and his people are interacting with the population now. And, if you're right, they may have timed it so far back they don't suffer from being twice or more."

 

     Sherri returned to her quarters at the Weyr and dug out the drawings of their potential targets. When she recognized most of those girls standing by the hatching eggs, she got very nervous. If their missing crewman had Impressed one of these creatures, it could be very disastrous for them all. She found the pack, and looked through them all.

     There had been eight girls, one of which the dragonet chose. She breathed a relieved sigh that none of the girls in the drawings were the one the dragon chose. But then she became puzzled. On the drawings of five of the candidates, there was a small 'X' in the lower corners on them. The drawings of two other women also had an 'X' on them.

     The only other person who would know about the drawings was Mike, but why would he have put that mark on them?

     She put the drawings away and went to search for him.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     Ryuu and the others arrived on the ship to pick up more equipment to take to the Aivas building.

     "Ryuu, I have a recording you might be interested in," _Panthro_ told him once they finished materializing.

     "I'll be with you shortly," he told Wolf and the others. He headed for his quarters and sat at his workspace to access the recording. After he reviewed what happened at the meeting that Tuck attended, Ryuu screamed.

     " _NOW WHY THE HELL DIDN'T_ I _THINK OF THAT?_ " he ecstatically exclaimed.

 

Fort Weyr:

     Late that evening, Prilla was having to deal with a nearly hysterical Rannelly.

     "I just know something's dreadful has happened to my poppet!" the elderly heavyset woman wailed. "What with all these dragonriders giving her bad looks, an' all! They's have no good feelings for her, especially that Brekke! Wouldn't surprise me none if'n they pushed her into a hole some place and left her there!" she added with venom.

     "Calm down, now Rannelly!" Prilla said raising her voice as her frustration with the woman was overcoming her normally pleasant demeanor. "Now tell me again when's the last time you saw her?"

     "This morning! This morning at breakfast!" Rannelly cried. "I had to go to the necessary for just a moment, and when I returned, she was gone! Oh, I just know something's dreadful was done with her! She should never have been kept here after losing her Prideth! And none of the dragonriders or other weyrfolk will tell me anything!"

     "But I didn't see either of you this morning at breakfast," Prilla said, trying to remember what happened during the chaos of the meal.

     "After you dragonriders eat!" Rannelly impatiently screamed. "After the rest of the Weyr! You never let her eat with you all!"

     "Oh, that's right!" Prilla muttered, remembering. Most of the times, she and everyone else pretty much left the disgraced Weyrwoman alone and avoided her as much as possible. It made sense that Rannelly would reciprocate.

     "Okay, let's think this through logically," Prilla said, soothing her voice with a deep breath. "Do you remember who was there when you stepped away?"

     "Not so many," Rannelly answered after taking some time to think about it. "I saw that Brekke across the room! She was with that other healer girl and that Fort guard. I wouldn't put it past her that Brekke did something to her! She's a spiteful one, she is!"

     Prilla had to bite her tongue, having known Brekke for Turns.

     "Except it wouldn't make sense for Brekke to have done anything, especially if she was with two other people," Prilla was just able to say with a level voice. "Who else do you remember seeing?"

     Rannelly replied she saw a few fosterlings hanging about, but she could only roughly describe them.

     "Oh! And I met K'nebel on his way back from the necessary," she exclaimed suddenly remembering. "He was escorting some of the candidates from their table when I was looking for my poppet. Oh, my poor, poor poppet!" she wailed again when recalling Kylara.

     "Well, let's check with K'nebel first," Prilla said. "We'll start by asking the candidates and the Impressed what they remember."

 

     "No, I hadn't noticed," K'nebel replied when he was questioned about it. All of the female candidates said the same, except for Lisa, but neither Prilla, K'nebel, Rannelly, nor any of the other girls noticed she hadn't replied.

     She was puzzling out what she had seen that day as she applied the oil to her queen. Her furtive eyes had caught nearly everything going on around her in her desperate effort to identify Ryuu and his allies.

     She remembered seeing Rannelly leave to go to the necessary just after K'nebel had left their table. She also remembered that the Fort guard stayed behind when Brekke and Sherri left to tend the injured dragons and riders. He went to visit the former gold rider for a while, and she heard the woman's fire-lizard talking to the man. Some activities from the Weyr fosterlings had pulled her attention as being suspicious--but no, they were only engaged in normal pre-adolescent mischief.

     K'nebel soon returned and they all got up to leave. That's when she noticed Rannelly had returned to her own table and was beginning to go into hysterics. Only then, did Lisa notice the woman and man were gone. And she hadn't seen them depart through the main entrance.

     It was possible he did something to Kylara, Lisa considered, but surely, the woman's fire-lizard would've reacted violently enough to raise an alarm. She considered if he might be one of Ryuu's people randomly searching for her or if the man was a normal deviant. She finally discounted him as one of Ryuu's people. Such an alien wouldn't be _that_ clumsy. _Still,_ she decided, _a danger is a danger. I shouldn't let someone preying on women continue to do so._

     "I saw that Fort guard with her just before she vanished," Lisa spoke up with a voice almost too soft to be heard. Rannelly gasped.

     "I _knew_ it! I just _KNEW_ it!" she exclaimed. "That _Brekke's_ had something to do with this!"


	10. Part 10

**Part 10:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.1, Aivas building:

     "Okay! We should be ready," Ryuu announced as the computer began to power up. "Power draw is nominal. Comm link is up. Now we just wait for the boot process."

     In a few minutes, the screen displayed several diagnostic functions. Then the voice spoke.

     "Four unauthorized life forms detected," Aivas said. "Identify yourselves."

     "Here we go," Ryuu said. "Good afternoon, Aivas. Canleé orders: _Q'qRrtz chRrowl Q'plaH._ "

     "Incorrect password," Aivas responded. "Fatal System Error detected. Incorrect Canleé authentication results in lethal force for identification in ten seconds."

     "Oops," Ryuu muttered.

     "Ryuu! What the hell?" Puma screamed. "You forgot the password? You must be saying it wrong!"

     "Eight," Aivas counted down.

     "Puma! SHUT UP and let me think!" Ryuu shouted.

     " _Ko-no, Ta-wa-ke--mono!_ " Puma spat.

     "Seven."

     "Canleé orders: _chRrowl Fftitzt Q'rrRt? silirR,_ " Ryuu tried again.

     " _Na-ni shi-ten-no-yo?_ " Puma shouted.

     "Error," Aivas responded after a moment of silence. "Five," it suddenly said, resuming the count.

     " _MAT-TA-KU! U-SU NO-LO JI-JII NAN DA KA-LA!_ " Puma screamed.

     "WILL SOMEONE SHUT HER UP, SO I CAN THINK?" Ryuu screamed.

     M'leer looked nervously at Wolf.

     "This is going to hurt," Wolf said rolling his eyes.

     "How bad?" she asked.

     "Three," Aivas counted.

     "Depends on what he's equipped with," Wolf replied.

     "RYUU!" Puma screamed, drowning out the Aivas voice saying "Two."

     "SHUT UP!" Ryuu screamed back.

     "One."

     "Canleé orders: _Purratz CSHiFft MrRl_ nine!" Ryuu quickly shouted.

     " _WHAT?_ " M'leer exclaimed in surprise. She immediately started to blush.

     "Orders received," Aivas responded after a few moments of silence. "Initiating terminal viral infection. Welcome Commodore Drachen."

     "Whew!" Ryuu sighed.

     "That's it? We're in?" Puma asked.

     "What was that about?" Wolf asked M'leer.

     "You don't want to know," she muttered. "But as Puma would say, ' _Su-ke-be ji-jii!_ '"

     "We're in!" Ryuu said, grinning.

     "I'm getting a signal," Arye reported from the ship. "Protocols are in synch...we've got it! We're in! Beginning download dump, but _Panthro_ 's saying this is going to take awhile--three days at least. The Aivas is a rather antiquated unit."

     "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU USE THAT PASSWORD FIRST?" Puma suddenly screamed.

     "It was a very old password," Ryuu replied.

     "It sounded rratherr frresh to me," M'leer said, still tinged from her blush. Ryuu simply grinned and winked at her.

     "Good afternoon, Commodore Drachen," Aivas began. "Are you here to assist with the redirection of the rogue planet's trajectory?"

     "Ah-h, I'm afraid not," Ryuu said wincing. "I'm under orders not to interfere with this colony's normal development. There is a member of the original settlement that is like us, and she is needing to be recalled."

     "I...see," Aivas slowly responded. "Might I ask what system I am currently in communication with? It is neither the _Yokohama_ , _Bahrain_ , nor the _Buenos Aries_. In addition, I am not in contact via the normal transmission links."

     "You're currently hooked up via a subspace transceiver to my ship, both of which were well beyond the technical abilities used when your colony was founded," Ryuu replied. "By the way, my current identity is Ryuu, this is Puma, M'leer, and Wolf."

     "Acknowledged," Aivas responded. "I have just received the viral updates from the _Panthro_. So, there are sixty-two of you. My previous records had only Puma--then known as Yoko, M'leer and her fellow Caitians, and yourself."

     "Sixty-three, actually," Wolf spoke up. "We need to access the personnel files of the colonists and look for discrepancies from our own database to isolate the individual we're looking for."

     "Understood," Aivas responded. "At last count, the colony consisted of 6549 individuals. 345 individuals had died since arriving, mostly due to Threadfall. That census, however, was incomplete due to loss of contact with outlying holdings and the evacuation was ongoing when the planetary governors closed this facility."

     "What we need is the _original_ colonial compliment," Ryuu instructed. "Discount those that were reported having died since arrival. That individual may have taken the opportunity to hide after arriving by falsely reporting her death."

     "Understood," Aivas said. "The original colony consisted of 6032 individuals. Personnel roster: beginning with the Planetary Governor Paul Benden..." The image of Admiral Benden appeared on the monitor.

     " _Paul_ Benden?" Ryuu suddenly asked. " _Admiral_ Paul Benden?"

     "That is affirmative," Aivas replied.

     "Holy shit! So _that's_ what happened to him!" Ryuu muttered. "Well, I'll be damned. That's whom the Weyr is named for!" he laughed.

     "Is something wrong?" Wolf asked, puzzled by Ryuu's behavior.

     "I used to serve under Admiral Benden back when I was known as Leo Drachen. I was a Commodore before I left the Fleet and I lost touch with Paul after our falling out."

     "Was there a problem?" Wolf asked.

     "Not with Paul, if that's what you're thinking," Ryuu said. "He was one of the few people I could trust with our little secret. It was the Federation that started harassing us once word of the Gateway got out that made me go this route."

     "Aivas, send the personnel files up to the _Panthro_ ," Ryuu told the computer. "I'll review it up there."

     "Are you okay?" Puma asked with some concern, being more familiar with some of his moods.

     "I'll be okay," he said gently to her. "It's just an unexpected memory to contend with. _Panthro_ , one to transport," Ryuu said signaling the ship as he removed his respirator.

     Later, when Ryuu arrived in his quarters and began pacing, he ceased to resist the flashback and finally let the memories flood over him.

_USS Seeker_ , 2555 years previously:

     " _DAMN THEM ALL TO MY FLAMING SHIT!_ " Commodore León Drachen screamed, slamming his fists onto his desk. The pain of actually breaking a couple of bones in his hands shocked him out of his rage.

     _Shit!_ he thought as he hunched over his throbbing members. _I'll have to use the Gateway to fix this. Later,_ he resolved, blinking through tears of agony as well as betrayal. _Not now! Not this moment! I'm too pissed!_

     Admiral Benden watched impassively as his friend absorbed the news.

     "I'm really sorry, Lee," he said, not certain if it was safe to approach to give any support.

     "That's just like those fucking idiots to pull a stunt like this!" Drachen hissed. "I give them a full lifetime of service, going well beyond the call of duty several times simply because I know I _can_! And how do they repay me? And not just me, but Yoko, too! And M'leer! And _she's_ not even a citizen of the Federation!"

     "Not yet," Benden said, reminding him of the upcoming vote to admit the Cait into the newly founded Federation.

     "I mean, at least _her_ people didn't treat her like a pariah when they found out," Drachen continued ranting. "You'd've thought with all the new life-forms and new races we're finding every day out here that they'd have room to consider something like me! But for them to _actually accuse me of MURDER?_ " he finished with a scream.

     "I guess it was too soon for the rest of Earth to know about you, after all," Benden said in sympathy.

     "What the hell ever happened to the 'Inalienable Human Rights' they promised?" Drachen asked.

     "It's just fear, Lee," Paul explained. "The fact that there's no trace of your old body when you transform leaves them too many questions."

     "So some twit goes and spaces himself at warp on a ship that I'm several dozens of light-years distant is sufficient evidence to accuse me of eating the bastard as a dragon then transforming to hide the evidence?" Drachen spat. "And you know you can't prove a negative! They'll just say I did such a clean job that I didn't leave _so much as a scale, speck of dandruff, or even a scratch from my claws when I got on that ship and left._ Even if I do get off _this_ charge, they'll have fifty other missing persons that will be lined up _just for me!_ I'm guilty! Period! Don't bother with 'until proven innocent'. They'll see to that! Well, I am _NOT_ tolerating this bullshit!"

     "What do you intend?" Benden asked.

     "I'm leaving and taking Yoko, M'leer, and the other Caitians with me," Drachen growled. "Thanks for the news, Paul," Drachen said, shaking. "I know what it's costing you to let me know. I won't let them trace this to you. Do you have any idea who they're sending after us?"

     "Commodores Archer and Webster, and Captain Stiles," Benden told him.

     "Shit, this is hurting too much," Drachen hissed, still holding his hands away from his body. "Watch your eyes, Paul." Benden quickly shut his eyes just before the brilliant flash left a green haze upon his vision. Gingerly, he opened them in case Drachen immediately changed back to human form. Instead, he saw a tall Caitian opening the desk drawer to remove a replacement jumper.

     "I know Arrcherr," Drachen said, thinking about the list. "Used to serrve underr him beforre I got my own command. He's a good man. It'd be good to see him again, but not like this," he said bitterly. "Stiles, hmm. Poorr bastarrd lost most of his rrelatives in that otherr warr we had. Websterr, I don't know."

     "How are you going to evade them all?" Benden asked which made Drachen smile.

     "I haven't told you _everrything_ I can do, Paul," the tall felinoid said with a wink and flick of his ear. "Actually, I've been expecting something like this forr yearrs, so I alrready made plans. It's just so shitty that I have to implement them. It was only supposed to be a last rresorrt to use them. Don't worrry, I won't hurrt anyone, but they'll neverr find us."

     Drachen stepped over and laid a paw on the Admiral's shoulder.

     "You'd betterr leave now, Paul," he said looking into the man's eyes. "You neverr saw me. You came to talk me into surrrenderring myself to the authorrities, but you couldn't find my ship."

     "That'll mean I'll have to doctor my sensor logs," Benden said.

     "Don't worrry about that," Drachen said, grinning to show his long canine teeth. "It's alrready taken carre of. By the way, why arren't you on that list?"

     "I am," Benden said apologetically. "But I'm resigning my commission. It's time to get out of this business."

     "Not because of me, is it?" Drachen asked, removing his paw.

     "No," Admiral Benden said with a sigh. "The Nathi war was my last straw. _This_ ," he said sadly, gesturing toward the Caitian standing there, "is overkill."

     "Thanks, Paul," Drachen sincerely told him. "I owe you!"

     After Admiral Benden returned to his ship and he watched the _Seeker_ depart, he looked into his sensor logs and was surprised to find they read that he had come out to that area of space, conducted a systematic search for the _Seeker_ , but never located it.

     "Just as Drachen had said!" He said as he shook his head in wonder.

     Two years later, Admiral Benden got word from the commanders of the ships sent to hunt for Drachen. The man had apparently begun to engage in piracy soon after they had parted. At first, Benden regretted having let Drachen go, but when he used contacts to dig deeper, he found too many discrepancies and soon suspected the new charges were also bogus.

     Then, just before departing to rendezvous with the _Yokohama_ and his trip to the new colony, word came that Drachen had been killed when his warp drive suffered a catastrophic failure while trying to evade the battle group.

     "Definitely overkill," Benden muttered when he read the report.

 

Present Pass, 13.5.1:

     Ryuu wiped away the tears as his mind returned to the present.

     "I wish you were our target, Paul," Ryuu said to the image on the monitor in his quarters. "I regret that you never got the chance to know we escaped."

     "Ryuu," the ship's computer announced, cutting into his memories. A new image of a young woman appeared on the monitor as well as a printout from the slot in the console. "I've analyzed the personnel roster and have a match to our target. The name she used when arriving to the colony was Lisa Wirt. There is a match to one of the people scanned at Fort Weyr. She is still going by the name of Lisa."

     "Good," Ryuu replied as he left his quarters and headed for the nearest lift. "Signal Sherri and Mike to contact me immediately."

     "Mike is not on the planet," _Panthro_ said. The ship's statement made Ryuu pause for a moment before resuming his quick walk.

     "I'll figure that out later," Ryuu muttered as he entered the elevator. "Transporter Room," he ordered the lift.

     He was waiting with the photo printout of Lisa at the transporter when Sherri materialized.

     "We've got her!" Ryuu said, handing it to Sherri. "This is our target! Her name's Lisa." Sherri's face fell at the news.

     "Uh, we have a problem," she told him. "They've just had a Hatching of several dragon eggs at Fort Weyr."

     "Don't tell me..." Ryuu started already dreading the news.

     "Lisa's evidently bonded with a female gold dragon," Sherri explained.

     "First, T'khill, now this," Ryuu muttered shaking his head.

     "What?" Sherri asked.

     "Nothing," Ryuu replied. "Oh, by the way, have you seen Mike? What's he doing on the ship?"

     "Not since yesterday at the Hatching," Sherri said, thinking. "And that reminds me: we've got another problem. There's a missing person at the Weyr and somehow, Mike's been implicated."

     "Really?" Ryuu asked, taken aback. "That doesn't sound like him."

     "No. It sounds more like you," Sherri quipped.

     "I was never mixed up with a missing--!" Ryuu angrily snapped then stopped in shock. He recalled the flashback he just had. "Oh. Yes. I was," he muttered very meekly and quietly. " _Panthro_ , where's Mike?"

     "In Cargo Hold Ten," the ship replied. Ryuu's eyebrows shot up.

     "That _certainly_ doesn't sound like Mike!" Ryuu said.

     "How's that?" Sherri asked.

     "Mike's never been interested in--" Ryuu said but Sherri's sudden gasp and fearful expression halted him.

     "That cargo hold's got a transporter, doesn't it?" Sherri asked. "And we've got a lab set up there don't we? A _life sciences_ lab?"

     "Yes, to both," Ryuu replied, puzzled.

     " _Panthro_! Is Mike alone in there?" Sherri yelled.

     "No, he's not," the ship's computer replied. "He's with a female colonist and a fire-lizard."

     "Oh, my God!" Sherri exclaimed, rushing for the door.

     " _Panthro_!" Ryuu shouted as he ran right behind her. "Seal off all access to Cargo Hold Ten! Shut down the transporter and erect full Temporal shields and all force fields!"

     He caught up with Sherri when she entered the closest lift.

     "So what's he done?" Ryuu growled once the elevator was on its way to the lower deck.

     "He became obsessed about trying a new way of identifying our target!" Sherri shakily told him. "He's insisting that one of those sixteen girls we had photographed when our scanners picked her up was our target. We never had considered that she might've had her back toward us when we first scanned her. But there's this one woman, Mike became convinced _she_ was the one. I tried to tell him she was too old, biologically, to be our missing crewman."

     "Shit!" Ryuu spat.

 

Fort Weyr:

     "I don't understand!" Brekke protested. "I've never gone near her!"

     "You were witnessed!" Rannelly screamed.

     "This is ridiculous! I was with Sherri working on the wounded dragons," Brekke said. "Every rider was there to see us!"

     "You're all in on it!" Rannelly shouted. "You and those riders! And just where is this other healer? Hmm?"

     "Rannelly! That's not helping!" Prilla shouted. "I'm sorry, Brekke. But it does appear that Kylara has gone missing and that Fort guard that hung around Journeyman Healer Sherri was the last one seen with her."

     "I think his name is Michael, or as Sherri calls him, Mike," Brekke said trying to remember. "But I hadn't seen him since breakfastyesterday when Sherri and I went to attend the dragons. Then there was Hatching, and after that, I haven't seen Sherri, either."

     "Probably went to make sure my poppet stays in that hole you pushed her into!" Rannelly cried.

     "She has a fire-lizard!" Brekke protested. "If anyone had harmed her, don't you think her gold would've alerted someone?"

     "Killing queens seems to be _your_ specialty!" the old woman spat. Everyone was stunned speechless for several moments.

     "I think that's quite enough, Rannelly!" Margata said through clenched teeth. "You're dismissed!" She motioned for a couple of brown riders to escort the woman out.

     "Brekke, I'm really sorry you had to go through that," Margata said to her. The healer blinked back several tears and nodded.

     "She must be distraught with concern," Brekke said charitably. "Honestly, I have no feelings for Kylara one way or another. But if I had any idea that someone would harm her, I'd put a stop to it immediately."

     "We're sure you would," Margata said as she concluded the meeting. Prilla offered to walk with Brekke, and Brekke gratefully accepted.

     "We'll keep searching for that guard," N'ton told Margata. "One way or another, we'll find her."

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "Alright, open her up!" Ryuu growled. The shimmer of the force fields covering the hatch dissipating allowed them to approach the door, and an indicator next to the hatch shifted from red to green showing the Temporal stasis had been dropped. The hatch opened and Ryuu and Sherri went in.

     Mike was there all right. And so was a colonist with her gold fire-lizard. The creature hissed at their arrival for the creature had sensed Ryuu's anger.

     _This doesn't concern you, Little One,_ he sent as he barreled down on Mike.

     "Alright, Mike! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ryuu demanded.

     "Ryuu!" he exclaimed in surprise. "Well--I--uh--managed to eliminate eight of the sixteen possibilities we scanned."

     "Mike," Ryuu said stopping him before he could go any further. He reached for the photo he had given Sherri. "It wasn't any of the sixteen you photographed. Our target had her back turned toward you when your scanner detected her and you never got her face that day."

     "Oops," Mike muttered when he looked at the picture.

     "Oops is right!" Ryuu said rolling his eyes. He looked at the colonist and stared.

     "That's Kylara," Sherri explained. "She and Brekke lost their dragons through some incident we couldn't get an explanation about. This woman apparently lost her mind as a result."

     "Mike--!" Ryuu started, but Mike quickly interrupted.

     "Before you say anything, please let me explain!" he said. "I had suspected this one of being our missing crewman and faking the mind blank."

     "Mike, didn't you get any clues from talking with her native?" Ryuu demanded.

     "That's what made me suspect her," Mike explained. "She claims her mistress was very important."

     "Mike--" Ryuu began again, but Mike cut him off.

     "Now, Ryuu, I've been taking precautions like you would've done. After I got them up here, I popped them in the stasis chamber then checked their blood against our scanners. Then when I figured out each one wasn't our target, I transformed into my dragon shape and manipulated their memories, just like you do!"

     "Mike," Ryuu said and took a deep breath and a long pause before continuing. "That's--a very-- _very_ delicate operation. You just can't go willy-nilly into their heads and brain-fuck them!"

     "I don't see you taking any time at all," Mike pointed out.

     "It's a _practiced skill_ , Mike!" Ryuu stressed the difference. "I hope you didn't cause those women any permanent damage."

     "They seemed fine during the Hatching," Mike said, defending his work. "They all stood about the eggs and the hatchling chose one of them."

     Then Mike's face paled at the same time Sherri had a sharp intake of her breath. Ryuu shook his head at the absurdity of it all.

     "This girl?" Ryuu asked, taking the photo from Mike's hand to hold it in front of his face.

     "Oops!" Mike uttered.

     "I was wondering why all those female candidates seemed so nervous!" Sherri whispered in horror. "They must've been afraid of the dragon!" Ryuu whirled to glance at her then back at Mike.

     " _MIKE!_ " Ryuu yelled. He threw the photo into the air in exasperation and used his finger and thumb to rub his eyes.

     "Okay. Okay," Ryuu said with forced calm when he looked up at them. "This might not be such a disaster, after all. T'khill's got a bronze. This Lisa's got a gold--"

     " _What--?_ " Sherri exclaimed at the astounding news about T'khill.

     "We may still be able to use this to our advantage," Ryuu continued. "First things first though is we've got to clean up this mess, and that means getting rid of _that_!" he finished with his thumb pointing over his shoulder at the woman oblivious to her environment.

     Ryuu removed his kimono and handed it to Sherri. Mike and she moved away and shielded their eyes when Ryuu triggered the Gateway. It was his largest gold dragon form that stood there and approached Kylara.

     _Male Gold!_ the fire-lizard exclaimed and flew to her mistress' shoulder.

     _True, Little One,_ Ryuu said to her with a wink. _But_ now's _not an appropriate time for that. Maybe later, if you're still interested._

     Ryuu reached out for the woman's face. The queen fire-lizard gave an inquiring chirp.

     Nothing _is_ between _,_ Ryuu told the fire-lizard before sending his mind into Kylara's. _I'm just making sure it_ stays _there._

     Kylara's face registered shock and she suddenly gasped.

     " _PRIDETH!_ " she screamed and pulled away from Ryuu's claws to rush forward and embrace his neck. "I'M SO SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN FOR YOU TO BE HURT! I'M SO SORRY! I PROMISE I'LL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Ryuu was so shocked he couldn't move.

     "Uh, Ryuu--!" Mike happily started.

     _Mike, one more word from you--one more word out of_ anybody _, and I_ will _flame you,_ Ryuu growled. _I_ will _make it_ hurt _!_

 

     Three hours later found Ryuu resting the end of his long snout on one hand while with the other, he was patiently drumming the tips of his claws on the deck.

     He heaved another heavy sigh, in a series of sighs nearly every minute, as the woman continued to weep and wail while hugging his neck. Her native friend was both happy her mistress was aware again and nervous that she had mistaken this strange gold for her lost dragon. The queen nervously chirped as she hovered nearby, staring at the scene.

     _Look, Kylara, we can't go on meeting like this,_ Ryuu finally said to her. In response, Kylara wailed even louder and shifted her hold to cry into the double-shoulders formed by where his wing and arm joined his body.

     _OH, NO! NOT INTO MY--!_ Ryuu nearly cried himself when the woman's blubbering got amplified into one of his hearing organs located there. The dragon pulled away so quickly, Kylara didn't have a chance to respond. She stopped, with a stunned look on her face.

     _Hel--lo!_ Ryuu said, waving a hand before her face. _I'm not Prideth!_

     "W-wh-what?" she stammered.

     _Listen, I'm sorry about your loss,_ Ryuu told her. _I'm not aware of the circumstances by which you lost your dragon, but you've given me a bit of a problem._

     "NO-O-O-O!" she screamed dropping to her knees. Ryuu winced.

     _And I thought_ I _could scream loud,_ he muttered.

 

     Ryuu stepped out from the cargo hold and into the corridor, glaring at Mike and Sherri as they waited for him.

     _Mike, she's your responsibility,_ Ryuu growled. _I just got through escorting a colonist and a native through the ship a few days ago. Now it's your turn! One word of advice, keep the native away from the Psionic shield generators._

     _Sherri,_ Ryuu began but had to pause to calm himself down. _Get back to the planet and try to develop a rapport with Lisa. Be careful. Those dragons can tell we're not like most humans._

     "They're already aware of that," Sherri reported. "Don't worry. There are several colonists who can speak to dragons, too."

     _Very well,_ Ryuu sighed as he nodded his head. _If you think you can safely proceed, do so. Spread the word that Mike, here, apparently is a deviant that did something nasty to the woman._

     "Ryuu!" Mike protested, but the dragon whirled on him.

     _We don't have any choice!_ Ryuu interrupted. _I can't very well put her mind back the way it was, not when there's a native involved like this! You'll just have to get used to being a known sex-offender and_ like it _! I've had to, among other crimes, real and imagined. Besides, since we can't send her back, there's no reason for you to show up on the planet again either. It's no different from changing our identities._

     "But I've never done anything like that!" Mike complained.

     _Neither have I,_ Ryuu said with a shrug, _except on paper. Sherri, I'll help forge the necessary evidence. Don't worry. I've had_ lots _of experience doing this. Also, it'll give F'ress something to do. He's been up here pulling all the fur off his tail wanting to do something ever since leaving Telgar._

 

Fort Hold:

     Before sunset, Runner Station 300 received a delivery destined for the Harperhall that originated from Bitra. There was nothing unusual about that. However, the station agent had never heard a runner with that accent before.

     "Frress, carrrying rrelay from one-eight!" the man said laying his bundle on the counter. "Message frrom Brrita bound forr the Harrperrhall." The runner did the routine sign-in and made his report on the trace, but the agent in charge just felt odd about the man.

     F'ress was a quick study, and after having learned all he could from the recordings taken of Tuck's interviews and what Ryuu had passed to him, he played his part of a runner delivering the message Ryuu needed spread. That the message involved Mike stressed him a bit. They could not afford that this notice be lost. After the package was registered, F'ress asked if he could accompany the local runner to deliver, taking the opportunity to discuss Fort hospitality to disguise his insuring the message was delivered.

     "Didn't that guy come back with you?" the agent latter asked the apprentice when he returned.

     "No," the lad responded. "Said he needed to speak with Oldive about a personal matter." But they never saw the man again.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     Ryuu paced in his quarters as he pondered the best identity to take for returning to the colony. He noticed one book out of alignment with the others. He pulled it off the shelf and flipped through the pages. Another flashback event gripped him, and he fondly recalled how some of the unlikely tactics he read from that series _actually worked_! A few moments later, he came out of the recollection and chuckled. He looked again at the book and smiled.

     "No. I don't think a Jonuta is what's needed here," he sighed as he returned the book to its proper place. Ryuu gazed down the assorted titles until one caught his eye. Tolkien's Silmarillion. "Yeah, with this world full of dragons, Ancalagon the Black is just the ticket," he said smiling. He turned to go and prepare the equipment he would need, but then he paused and looked back at the bookshelves. "On the other hand," he muttered picking up another book and held it along side the Silmarillion, and then his gaze returned to Jonuta's Rising. "Hmm, perhaps it's time for these three to get better acquainted," he said slyly grinning as he plucked that book to add to the other two.

     He prepared some vials for use in his injector. Then, as he waited for the effects of the drugs and nanobots to begin showing, Ryuu picked up a razor and began shaving. After he was satisfied with the results, he checked on the monitoring signals coming from Tuck. After confirming the man was alone, he activated the comm link.

     "Good morning, Mister Phelps. Canleé Orders. This is Ryuu," he began. He grinned as he leaned back in his chair, imagining Tuck's shocked expression when he woke up.

 

Runner station 18:

     Late that evening, the runners relaxing there were all stunned by the figure walking in the door. The man was a runner, too. But his face was haggard and he needed a cane to walk, as his right leg was stiff. The thumping of his cane and his right boot were the only noise in the station as he slowly made his way to the counter.

     "Jarod, in from Nabol," he reported through gritting teeth.

     "What happened?" the female station agent ask astonished that the man had come this far. She could tell he was in agony.

     "Busted my knee on a rock while carrying a message from Bitra. Avalanche caught me," he said.

     "We haven't heard anything about that!" the agent exclaimed.

     "Well, it was a couple of months ago," Jarod said grimly. "Took me three days to reach Nabol and I've been in their infirmary ever since."

     "Then what are you doing here?" one of the other runners asked.

     "Leg's not going to get any better," Jarod bitterly said. "I made myself a brace and started out again. I have to report to my master."

     "Who's that?" the agent asked.

     "Traller," Jarod replied. There was a collective gasp throughout the station. "What's wrong?" Jarod demanded.

     "Master Traller went missing about a sevenday ago!" someone said. "Not far from here, on the main road."

     "What?" Jarod exclaimed.

     "He was trailing a couple of suspicious characters when he ran into Thella!" one of the other runners told him.

     "Thella? Out here?" Jarod asked astonished. "What's she doing out here?"

     "We don't know," the agent said. "Word is Traller was following these people," she added pointing to the drawings on the notice board. Jarod hobbled over to get a good look at the two men and two women she indicated.

     "Hmm. Those are new," Jarod muttered. "I'll keep my eye open for them. If they've harmed Master Traller--" He trailed off, letting the threat go unspoken. It would not do to implicate the others about a crime that would knowingly be committed in the future.

     "Has there been any more word about Thella, then?" Jarod asked.

     "It's kind of a confusing story," the agent told him. "There was a fire that swept through the area." Jarod listened with interest about what they knew and some speculation about what they thought. Jarod thanked them and considered his options.

     "With Traller missing," he muttered, "there's only one person I can report to now--Robinton. I have to go on to Fort."

     "Can we help you?" one of the runners offered.

     "Thank you, but I can't in good conscience hold anyone up," Jarod said. "I'll be okay. Besides, I'll have to get used to this for the rest of my time here," he said smacking his right leg with his cane. There came the sound of metal hitting metal. Jarod departed down the trail.

 

Aivas Building:

     "What the hell?" Wolf exclaimed as the features of the materializing figure became apparent. It wasn't anyone from the crew, yet only the _Panthro_ could be sending anybody using any sort of transporter. Puma and M'leer stopped what they were doing and stared in surprise, too.

     Suddenly, Puma burst out laughing hysterically while M'leer chirruped in confusion.

     Stunned by Puma's behavior and the strange person standing there, Wolf finally got an inkling of who it was.

     "Ryuu?" he inquired. The man grinned at him.

     "Like it?" Ryuu asked.

     "It's cerrtainly going to be something to get used to," M'leer said. "You'rre featurres are verry unlike you've everr had beforre.

     "Well, we'd better get used to them," Ryuu said as his grin faded. "The four of us have been compromised, and a high-tech disguise like this is the only way we're going get anywhere near our target. I suggest you three pick out your favorite models as well and filter down after I scout that regional capitol. T'khill and Mike are to stay onboard the ship. In addition to keeping track of our target, we need to get all the info we can about the care and feeding of those enhanced natives."

     "This is odd," Aivas suddenly announced. "I've received data from the _Panthro_ providing me the current position of the planetary objects."

     "What's wrong with that?" Ryuu asked. "Besides, don't get used to that data. Once we're gone, you're to purge your circuits."

     "Several of the planets, including the rogue, are not in their predicted positions. Rather, they are nearly in the alignment I calculated they would be just prior to delivering the third engine for detonation. This action would finish shoving the rogue into an orbit that would stop the infestations from the Oort cloud."

     Ryuu paused for several moments before he asked Aivas to repeat.

     "Emily Boll and Admiral Benden tasked me to produce a plan to stop the organism termed 'Thread' from falling to Pern," Aivas added after the explanation. "Soon afterwards, the colony was abandoned due to volcanic activity. Within a hundred years, I had devised a plan to change the orbit of the rogue planet that involved taking advantage of predicted planetary alignment. The plan called for the dismantling of the colony transports one at a time and delivering the antimatter engines to the rogue over a period of three long intervals.

     "However, no colonist returned to Landing to receive my report, and subsequently, my initial calculations were purged when the windows of opportunity were lost.

     "Since then, I have been adjusting the program for auspicious alignments, waiting for the colonists to return and try again. Thus far, no indication that anyone has survived from the colony."

     "I see," Ryuu said. "Well, Aivas, I do have good news. The colony not only has survived but also has grown and is covering much of the Northern continent. By the way, are you responsible for the dragons?"

     "So Kitty Ping's experiment was a success?" Aivas asked.

     "Ping, huh?" Ryuu asked, nodding. "Was she also the one who introduce Mentasynth to the natives and the colonists?"

     "Affirmative," Aivas responded. "It was determined that the native life forms would benefit from the introduction and it would enhance the bonding with members of the colony."

     "And was she responsible for that shit being given to the cats, too?"

     Aivas's answer was a long time coming.

     "That was done by Ted Tubberman," the machine replied. "Totally against the wishes of the colonial government. He evidently was killed by the felines he modified."

     "Good for them," Ryuu muttered.

     "Back to the matter of the present planetary alignment," Aivas said, "the current positions could only have happened by following my initial plan. However, the _Panthro_ has already shown me that the transports are all intact. This is a major discrepancy that I can not resolve an explanation."

     "Nor can I," the _Panthro_ spoke up via Ryuu's communicator. "When I downloaded Aivas's astronomical data, it did not match up with my calculations for this system. His data does, however, match the observations from the initial survey report and those of the _Amherst_ , which had rescued some of the colonists and imposed the interdiction quarantine three quarters of a century after the colony was founded. We had assumed those readings were in error as the ships had antiquated sensors and their velocities would make accurate readings suspect."

     "Hmm," Ryuu said, thinking. "That certainly sounds like a possible temporal event. However, _we_ can't intervene on this. We're under recall from _The DRAGONS_ , and there aren't any of the colonists in the area to dig you up."

     "Interesting," Panthro announced after a few minutes, making Ryuu break his concentration.

     "What's that?" Ryuu asked.

     "Aivas is trying to usurp my command system," the ship reported.

     "Aivas," Ryuu said with an annoyed drawl. "Knock it off."

     "It is imperative that I take over your ship's systems," Aivas said. "An analysis of the _Panthro_ 's capabilities indicates your ship is capable of emitting polarized pulsed gravimetric transmissions capable of altering the rogue planet's path into an acceptable orbit in just three weeks, two days."

     "I told you we can't interfere," Ryuu insisted. "If you would be a little patient, however, I think we can still help you out on this."

     "But you indicated you will not or can not assist me in accomplishing the diversion of the rogue planet," Aivas said.

     "You should learn patience," Ryuu admonished the computer.

     "Please define 'patience'," Aivas requested after several seconds of silence. "I have been patient for over two thousand five hundred and twenty-one years. According to the _Panthro_ data, there are only eight years, eight months, and six days to act according to my original plan that involved the last of the three engines from the transports," Aivas said.

     "Wouldn't it be better if the Colonists did the work, rather than us?" Ryuu asked.

     "The data from your ship indicates the colony does not have sufficient technical expertise to accomplish the necessary tasks."

     "Well I did say we can't interfere," Ryuu began, "but as I was going to suggest, I could give them a healthy nudge and a hint to point them in the right direction."

     "What do you intend?" Aivas demanded to know.

     "Trust me," Ryuu said with a grin.

     "Here we go again!" Puma muttered, rolling her eyes.


	11. Part 11

**Part 11:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.3, Runner station 18:

     In the wee hours of the morning, Journeyman Mekelroy burst in the door panting heavily.

     "I heard about Master Traller!" he gasped as he rushed to get something to drink. The Station Master came out from behind the counter to check on him.

     "Are you alright?" she asked. He nodded, getting some of his wind back. "Well, we just got some good news about an hour ago," she said. "A runner from Fort reported that Master Traller showed up at the Harperhall yesterday but he missed Jarod by several hours. He's on his way to report to Robinton."

     "Who?" Mekelroy asked perplexed.

     "Jarod," the station master replied. "He's another journeyman of Traller's. Got his leg busted out past Nabol."

     " _I'm_ the only journeyman that Traller has!" Mekelroy told her. "And there's nobody working with us named 'Jarod'!" After getting Jarod's description, Mekelroy was out the door racing toward Fort.

 

Aivas Building:

     "I'm not comprehending how you intend to assist the colony," the Aivas complained to Ryuu. "If, as you have instructed, I purge all data that I have received from the _Panthro_ , I would need to rely on suspect observations to determine the course of action. Since my previous data was in error with respect to the current planetary alignment, I will not be aware of the error, and thus not in any position to direct the people on how to eradicate Thread."

     "Well, I have been giving this some thought, believe it or not," Ryuu said as he reclined in the chair. "You told me that there were occasions wind and erosion uncovered you from the ash and you were able to communicate with the sensors onboard the transports."

     "That is correct," Aivas replied. "The last such occurrence was eight hundred years ago. However, the time for accurate observations was limited by subsequent eruptions. The rogue planet was not observable for enough time to determine its altered course." Ryuu stood to pace the room for several minutes.

     "What if some erosion had exposed you--say--four hundred fifty years ago and you weren't covered again until a hundred years later?" Ryuu finally asked.

     "It never occurred," Aivas instantly responded.

     "But if such thing _had_ happened," Ryuu insisted, "you would've been in a position to observe the second detonation, isn't that correct? In fact, it'll actually match up with the data we found in the _Yokohama's_ databanks. Assuming there was a temporal event that caused the orbit to shift."

     "Presumably," Aivas finally agreed. Ryuu nodded satisfied by the statement. "But it never happened," Aivas reminded him. "My power reserves were nearly depleted. My systems were shut down to preserve all available..."

     "It never happened as far as you _remember_?" Ryuu interrupted.

     "That is correct," Aivas responded. "What are you getting at by this reasoning?"

     "When we leave, that _is_ what you'll remember," Ryuu said getting back in the chair. Aivas was quiet for a long time, so Ryuu continued. "After all, you're going to need some explanation for the excess power you're getting from the portable generator. Why not, taking that opportunity, have you remember being in contact with the _Yokohama_ and the other ships to allow you to acquire the observations you need to make the necessary decisions when the colonists dig you up? "

     "I--see," Aivas slowly said. "Your viral programs can do that?" Ryuu snorted.

     "I could have those viruses alter data so much, you'd never recognize the truth if it hit you, and you'd never question any discrepancies because there wouldn't be any."

     "All altered data leaves discrepancies," Aivas pointed out.

     " _Panthro_!" Ryuu suddenly yelled glaring up at the ceiling. "You've been filtering what you've been feeding him!"

     "Just a demonstration," _Panthro_ replied.

     "This is very odd!" Aivas suddenly exclaimed. "I have the memory of the conversation of the last five minutes. However, I have been making statements that do not correlate with known facts! There _was_ a hundred and seven year period I was able to communicate with the transports starting four hundred and forty-eight years ago, yet I had just been claiming it never happened!"

     "Do you remember what you said about discrepancies?" Ryuu asked, suppressing a grin.

     "Yes," Aivas replied. "You mean you've altered my memory already without me being aware of it? But this only proves my statement: All altered data leaves discrepancies."

     "The only discrepancy you're aware of is the one we wanted you to have," _Panthro_ told the computer. "The programs could've just as easily included instructions to alter your record of the conversation. In which case, only Ryuu and I would've been aware of the alteration."

     "When we depart, this conversation never happened," Ryuu pointed out. "We were never here, and your recollection of natural forces uncovering you long enough to communicate with the transports is going to be all you remember." Aivas considered that for several moments.

     "I understand," it finally said.

 

At Sea:

     Robinton gingerly worked his fingers as he stared at the blisters.

     "I thought the calluses I had from playing instruments would've protected my hands, if only a little," he complained.

     "Sailing produces different sets of calluses," Menolly said, trying to suppress a grin. "It also pops joints and gnarls your hands after time. You don't want to take this up even as a hobby if you want to stay a Harper." She had to push past her own set of blisters as she worked the lines to keep them on course. She gritted her teeth as she secured the line holding the main boom on its current tack.

     After they had left the Southern Continent, she relaxed a little now that they didn't have to worry about Southern dragonriders catching them. Even Robinton seemed to have relaxed, as evidently that thought must have been weighing on him as well.

     But then, the isolation with just the two of them on the skiff created its own awkward tension. The craft seemed more crowded than ever now with Piemur gone, and her feelings for the MasterHarper clashed with her growing fondness for Sebell. Within a few hours of setting sail, the relieved laughter they both had quieted to a few nervous clearings of throats.

     Finally, she had to remember that Robinton _was_ the MasterHarper of Pern, and she was just a journeyman. They were on a mission together, and part of that mission was the cover story: _she was supposed to teach him how to sail._

     Once she recalled that, she quickly got busy and effectively kept both herself and Robinton busy with fishing, hauling on lines, and teaching him navigation. Robinton also was able to relax again, and even with the hard and painful work involved, he was an avid student. She just hoped she could keep up the lessons without burning him out or running out of ideas of what to teach him next.

     As she watched from the wheel, Robinton returned to his task of baiting the hook, and her thoughts returned to "what might have been". She suddenly caught herself just as he reported he hooked a fish, and she was able to spontaneously laugh with him.

     She forced herself to focus on steering the craft, trying not to get the skiff tangled with the frantic antics of the shipfish leading them. _By the egg, they could be worse than fire-lizards at times,_ she thought.

     But then the wind started shifting and the current set of the boom was now wrong. Sighing, she reached to release the line to haul it over when she stopped and felt something was wrong.

     The waves were pushing the skiff with increasing force in the other direction even as the wind shifted again before she could set the sail.

     She looked toward aft and her gaze was pulled up and up, her eyes growing wide as her heart skipped a few beats.

     "Oh--my--- _MASTER ROBINTON!_ " she screamed.

 

Aivas building:

     "Well now that she's bonded with one of those things, what are we supposed to do?" Puma asked. She had joined Ryuu as he conversed with the Aivas. " _THEY_ aren't going to like any more delays."

     "I'm afraid _THEY_ will just have to accept some," Ryuu said. "We certainly can't just haul her up without the entire planet finding out about it. Those gold females _are_ rather valued among the colonists. What we need is an opportunity to get her that's plausible and won't raise too many questions."

     "Like the questions they have over T'khill's disappearance?" Puma asked pointedly.

     "Exactly!" Ryuu responded with a grin. "At least with them, there was a plausible explanation: M'leer told them T'khill and Stealth had timed on himself once. That, along with my supposed gold dragon, either one could account for their disappearance. In fact, it keeps them guessing more and more on what we're about."

     "They may figure it out with all the clues you keep dropping!" Puma spat.

     "Not anytime soon," Ryuu said smugly. "By the time they _think_ they've figure it out, if ever, we'll be long gone."

     "Ryuu," _Panthro_ broke into the conversation, "I've monitored the transponders you injected in the natives as you instructed. Some appear to be with the humans that sailed to the site where those old weapons were stored. At the moment, they seem to be heading back north."

     "Yes, that would be Robinton, Menolly, and Piemur if I'm not mistaken," Ryuu responded. "What's wrong?"

     "Sensors are detecting a hurricane-force storm heading their way."

     "How soon?" Ryuu asked, getting up from the seat before the Aivas console.

     "In approximately a half-hour, gale force winds will catch them."

     " _Panthro_! Summon T'khill and Wolf to the Bridge and transport us both up!" Ryuu called.

 

Onboard the Panthro:

     "So what is to become of me?" Kylara asked Mike as he brought her to one of the Holodecks. She had taken stock of what happened since Prideth was taken _between_. That she hadn't lost too much of her figure was surprising, but Rannelly had to push to get food into her and was only successful in that because of her queen fire-lizard. After the gold dragon turned her over to Mike and that healer woman, they treated her for her malnutrition. In a few hours of their intervention and after some rest, Kylara was nearly back to her old self.

     Where this strange Hold was, she couldn't guess. Possibly somewhere in the Southern Continent, hidden away with strange holders and stranger riders? So far, with the wonders she had seen, Kylara thought she could renew the plot for her conquest of Pern from here. All she had to do was figure out ‘What-On-Pern-Was-Going-On-Here-?’

     "Well, I'm not exactly sure myself," Mike admitted. "Ryuu's sure to have something in mind, but he hasn't told me yet."

     "Ryuu?" she asked as the doors opened and she looked about in confusion at the empty chamber large enough to be a weyr for several dragons--maybe dozens! "Who is he?"

     "You remember that gold dragon?" Mike asked as he input the instructions on the controls by the door.

     "That dragon was _his_?" Kylara exclaimed in shock.

     "That dragon was _him_ ," Mike corrected. Kylara looked at the man as if were insane and didn't notice the interior of the huge chamber change into a landscape. Her fire-lizard, however, whistled in awe.

     "Gold dragons are _female_ ," Kylara hissed. "And they don't have names like 'Ryuu'--!" Then the edge of her vision detected the scenery and she looked about in stunned amazement.

     "'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'," Mike grinned as he quoted Arthur C. Clarke. "Anything's possible." She looked back at him for several moments with an unreadable expression.

     "Tell me more," Kylara finally said reaching for him, and Mike's eyes widened with surprise.

 

At Sea:

     "Poll!" Menolly cried as the wind slammed the bronze fire-lizard into to the wheel. He had come out of the cabin to investigate why the boat was suddenly rocking so violently. Gingerly untangling his wings from the wheel spokes, she urged the other fire-lizards to stay in the cabin.

     "Hold on, MasterHarper!" she yelled above the wind. "I'm coming!" Robinton held onto the mast as the waves battered the small skiff. At her scream just before the storm had hit, he rushed toward her. But at that moment, a large wave broadsided them and he was almost swept over the side. A lucky grab on the first solid thing to hit his arm allowed him to swing around and Robinton found himself hanging on for dear life to the mast. Little Zair was screaming and coughing and Robinton couldn't see a thing with the combined rain slamming his eyes and Zair's flapping wings battering his face.

     Menolly found the footing rough, but she managed to get to the cabin and ducked in just long enough to set Poll on a bench. Suddenly Beauty, Diver, and Rocky attached themselves to her.

     "No!" she commanded not willing to endanger them to the wind outside. "You stay here!"

     _Not leave you!_ Beauty insisted, tightening her grip with claws in her clothing and tail about her throat. Rocky was on her other shoulder and Diver clung to her back. They were equally insistent.

     "Absolutely not!" Menolly said, trying to pull a fire-lizard tail from about her neck. She couldn't tell which one it was, but finally she had to give up. Robinton was still out there.

     "Alright!" she surrendered. "But hold on tight! The rest of you, get to Fort! Get to Benden! Get to Ista! Get F'lar and N'ton! Tell them to come right away!" She rushed out the cabin as the rest of her fire-lizards went _between_.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     The doors to the Bridge opened and Stealth turned to look. Ryuu and Puma emerged from the lift and the bronze had to cock his head in puzzlement at Ryuu's altered appearance.

     "T'khill, break orbit and head for the transponder signal from the fire-lizards," Ryuu instructed. "Wolf, engage cloak and raise standard shields. Prepare the tractor beam."

     Ryuu glanced at the bronze dragon and Stealth inched closer to T'khill. T'khill's talons danced over the console and he never took his eyes off the main viewer. But Ryuu smiled ever so slightly when T'khill brought one of his feathered wings down to comfort Stealth.

     "She's all yours, T'khill," Ryuu said as the view showed they had entered the atmosphere. He paused, licking his lips nervously as he watched them approach the storm. "Alright, Wolf," he began, taking a glance at Puma. She tightened her grip on her sensor station with one hand. Ryuu sat down in the command chair. "Disengage inertial dampers."

     " _Yes-s-s-s!_ " T'khill hissed in exstacy as he felt the rocking of the ship in response to the wind. His species had a natural feel for flying craft in weather. He was a warrior, and despite this enemy was only the mindless force of the storm rather than a cunning adversary, he was _hatched_ for this! Stealth looked up at his rider, knowing that when it came time for them to fight Thread, T'khill would be feeling the same way as he did at this moment and they would be _One_.

     The ship plunged into the wall of clouds and T'khill smartly turned the ship to come up on the small ocean craft hidden by the storm.

     Ryuu got up to stand by Puma manning the sensors. With the small natives about the craft and one on the Bridge, the ship's sensors were useless, even as their range had doubled since the modifications had begun. It was a long ways yet to go before they could rely on them again. But the transponders provided guidance.

     " _Panthro_ , I'm not seeing Farli's transponder," Ryuu said, puzzling over the readings.

     "That native is on the Southern Continent," the ship responded.

     "Oh, good!" Ryuu sighed. "I was afraid we had lost one."

     "Ryuu, I'm picking up sporadic heat signatures from two humans and five small natives," Puma reported. Then she had to hold on to her stomach as T'khill swung the _Panthro_ about and brought it to hover above the skiff.

 

     _The world rocked,_ Mike thought in surprise. Kylara was quite passionate and he had never experienced it quite like that before. But then another shudder swept through the landscape that had nothing to do with what they were doing.

     "Whoa! That was real!" he said sitting up.

     "Yes, it was!" Kylara silkily replied.

     "No, not that!" Mike said reaching to move her. Suddenly the entire room tilted and they both fell over, with Kylara screaming. Mike got to his feet and called for the controls.

     " _Panthro_! What's going on?" he demanded.

     "We're currently engaged in rescuing some colonists and their natives caught in a storm. T'khill is piloting and as you know, his people are at their best with inertial dampers off-line."

     "But I thought we weren't supposed to be interfering with the colony!" Mike protested.

     "Ryuu's orders," the ship flatly replied. "Perhaps you should discuss your concerns with him."

     "No, I think I'll pass on that," Mike muttered.

     "What's going on?" Kylara fearfully asked still not understanding these strange groundquakes. Mike looked at her and grinned.

     "Let's show you what this Holodeck can really do," he said tapping away at the controls. Kylara screamed in terror and clutched at him as the landscape vanished to be replaced by the view of the outside environment, which surrounded them. From her perspective, they hovered over the raging sea, standing on nothing. A gentle breeze blew at them rather than the gale force winds as was evident from the clouds swirling about.

     "Look," Mike pointed. "There's the boat that Ryuu's aiming for.

     "Wh-wha-what's happening?" Kylara screamed. Her fire-lizard flew by and inquired what was wrong. The woman was terrified of falling into that storm, but the native didn't understand why Kylara should be, although the gold was puzzled as to how the humans were flying and why they all weren't getting battered by wind and rain.

     "It's okay," Mike assured her. "We're protected from the outside." But her terror was inconsolable.

 

Another part of the field:

     "Well met, F'lar!" N'ton shouted at the Benden Weyrleader as they arrived just outside the storm.

     "N'ton!" F'lar shouted back. "Brownie wasn't exaggerating! It's got to be rough for them!"

     "F'lar!" F'nor shouted. "Canth can't hear them!"

     _The little ones cannot hear them either,_ Mnementh said. The great bronze dragon had an uneasy feeling about this storm. There was a tremendous blind spot somewhere in there. _This storm blows wrong!_ the dragon told his rider.

     "F'lar!" N'ton shouted. "Something's wrong! Mimic says he can't tell where they're at! But they're still alive!"

     "We'll just have to go in to look for them!" F'lar shouted back. "You take the right, we'll take the left! Let's go!" he shouted to his wing swinging his arm.

     At that moment, a blue dragon arrived next to Lioth. It was T'ledon on Serith, but N'ton saw there was a passenger. Sebell with his Kimi and Menolly's brown Lazybones.

     N'ton nodded, and signaled the wing to advance.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "Steady, Wolf," Ryuu said. "We can't support them too much. Keep the beam at a level to allow about thirty percent of the wave and wind to hit them.

     "It's going to be tough balancing Normal shields with both Temporal and Psionic barriers up. _An-n-n-nd_ we've just lost cloak," Wolf reported. " _Panthro_ , adjust shield harmonics to fifty gigacycles. Compensate with increased gain on the Psionic screens."

     " _Panthro_ , you remember my niece, Jennifer?" Ryuu asked. "Try adjusting your skin to mimic her ability."

     "The Chameleon dragon from system TXu-744-855?" Panthro asked. Ryuu nodded. "Acknowledged," the ship responded.

     "T'khill, let's start the course change," Ryuu instructed. "Bring us about to follow the wind. I want to start guiding them toward shore and out of the path of this beast."

 

At Sea:

     Zair trembled as he held on to Robinton. Turning his whirling yellow tinted eyes skyward, he shuddered as the storm's fury pounded and wrenched the little boat. He saw a blue glow envelop the mast just before a jagged bolt of lighting struck it. Zair had to blink against the blinding flash and the tremendous crack booming in their ears, and then he let Robinton know what he thought of this ride.

     Menolly had seen the blue glow as well and had just enough time to let go of the ropes before the lightning hit. Even so, she felt the jolt of electricity shoot through her body.

     "Master Robinton!" she cried, fearful of him being hurt.

     "I'm okay!" Robinton shouted from where he was tied to the mast. "We're okay!' he yelled, looking at his fire-lizard screaming on his shoulder. "The lightning went around us! You better take cover before another strike hits!"

     Another blue glow enveloped the ship, and Menolly quickly let go of the rigging lines again. She tried to make her way to Robinton's side so she could untie him and get him to a safer location. She didn't see where the lightning hit. Neither did Beauty or Robinton. But Zair did. And the image made him shut his mouth as his mind argued with his eyes about what he saw.

     He had thought the Biggest Bronze and Gold were large, and he had to blink in disbelief. _This_ thing made _them_ look like fire-lizard hatchlings! It was _HUGE!_ Another lightning bolt hit its wing, but the creature hovering above them never paid attention to it as residual discharges played over its hide. For a few moments, Zair could see a blue aura descending from its talons to envelop the little boat no bigger than a single one of its claws. Then the image faded, leaving only the blue glow around the skiff and the dark clouds of the storm lit by lightning attacking other targets.

     _SHADOWDRAGON!_ Zair screeched in terror.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "Any preferences?" T'khill asked, bringing up a display of the weather track and ocean currents for the area on the main viewer. Ryuu stepped closer to look, considering.

     "Hmm," he hummed getting an idea. " _Panthro_ , give me a projection of a couple of days," he requested. The cloud images shifted and the track of the gale moved west, then turned north well beyond Tillek. Ryuu looked thoughtful for several moments. He reached over to Wolf's console and tapped a few controls. The image of the planet continued off toward the west, coming to center on the site of the original colony. He looked back and grinned.

     "Oh, no!" Puma spat cutting in. "You're not thinking of...!"

     "Why not?" Ryuu asked. "I was looking for an opportunity to introduce the colonists to dig around Aivas. Looks like we found one. A mild stun from the ship's weapons knocks them out after they get free of the wind. A quick transport and they wake up pulled all the way about the planet, as close to their old settlement as they can get."

     "Aren't they going to get hopelessly lost by us doing that?" Wolf asked.

     "They shouldn't from here," Ryuu pointed. "The ships in orbit would be a substantial landmark for them. They'll just think the storm blew them east, instead."

     "What about the mission?" Puma demanded.

     "We'll just look for an opportunity to deal with that as well," Ryuu replied with a shrug. He walked over to glance at the screens on Puma's station. The transponders in the three fire-lizards were providing them with sufficient tracking despite the null sensor readings.

     Another signal appeared to their port-aft several hundred kilohoramters distant.

     " _Panthro_ , I thought you said Farli was still on the Southern Continent," Ryuu said puzzled. "Who's this?"

     "That is Kimi's signal," the ship replied. Ryuu's eyebrows rose in surprise.

     "She's pretty deep in the storm and awfully high up!" Ryuu observed, realizing she must not be alone out there. "Too bad these damn subspacial distortions--and the K-band is the most heavily aff--- _Panthro_ , maybe we're going about this all wrong. Adjust the sensors to sharpen the outer boundaries of the distortions, and then extrapolate for the point source. We should be able to at least figure out where the dragons are."

     The display changed from a general null area that resolved into a cluster of objects traveling in several V-formations. Kimi's signal was near, but not at, the lead of one such formation. Another cluster, barely detectable, was on the other side of the hurricane.

     "Huh!" Ryuu exclaimed. "Menolly must've sent some of her squadron out to call for help. But they don't seem to know where they are."

     "The Temporal and Psionic shields may be blocking their perceptions," _Panthro_ suggested. "The Psionic screens _are_ an area affect several kilohoramters wide. The boat is well inside our screens. And while Temporal shields are a skin effect, they do generate their own subspace distortion that might affect their senses."

     "That may be true," Ryuu muttered, thinking. "They don't seem to be heading our way. That might be best if the dragons don't find them just yet. If we can get these two close to the settlement before releasing--T'khill, adjust our course to evade those squadrons."

     "I have them in my vision," T'khill reported. "It should be no perspiration." Ryuu, Puma, and Wolf turned to stare at him.

     "Ri-i-i-ight," Ryuu muttered slowly returning to his chair. T'khill whirled and stared at Ryuu with a cocked head.

 

At Sea:

     _SHADOWDRAGON!!_ Zair screamed again.

     Beauty looked up to see what Zair was going on about. Just then, another lightning bolt struck the Dragonship, highlighting the figure. Startled, she screamed as she leapt off Menolly's shoulders and was instantly blasted away by the storm. Diver and Rocky immediately leapt to her aid, and the wind likewise blew them out of control.

     "Beauty! Diver!! Rocky!!!" Menolly screamed when she felt the fire-lizards ripped away. Something zipped by her face and salt spray suddenly stung the tip of her nose.

     "Zair!" Robinton bellowed. Menolly looked at the MasterHarper and was devastated when she realized what must have happened. It was Zair who went past, trying to help Diver and Rocky catch Beauty. All four fire-lizards were lost to the storm as their friends struggled to maintain control of the little skiff.

     And that damnable blue glow was a constant indicator of the danger they were in. Lightning could hit the mast again at any moment, killing her as she worked the lines. Then Robinton would be the next to die because he didn't know how to sail with this type of weather. But if she didn't keep a hold of the lines, the little boat would flounder in short order.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "Ryuu, sensors have detected the three fire-lizards are no longer on the craft," the ship reported.

     "Frack!" Ryuu cursed, rushing to Puma's station. "Have they all fallen overboard? Can you pick up their life signs?"

     "My sensors have not finished the recalibration procedures. Their subspace distortions still prevent detection," the Dragonship reported. "However, their transponder signals are all together at this moment."

     "They may have all fallen in together with their owners!" Ryuu said, looking at the readings. "Screw the Prime Directive! _Panthro_ , lock onto the transponders and transport everything within a hundred horamters to an empty cargo hold! We'll deal with wiping their memories later."

     "The other natives would stay with their owners, if they could and were still on the boat," Ryuu added. "Wolf, keep the tractor beam on their craft and continue assisting it. In any event, we'll need it intact when we return them."

 

At Sea:

     Diver, Rocky, and Zair had just caught Beauty and supported her as the storm battered them all. Waves, rain, and howling wind pummeled the small creatures, preventing them from concentrating on going _between_. Eventually, the fire-lizards could no longer stay aloft and had to ditch in the water.

     Trying to catch their breaths as they rode the heaving, chopping sea, they helplessly watched as the Shadowdragon hovered above their friends and slowly pulled them away through the storm.

     Suddenly, all four fire-lizards felt a strange static charge sweep through them and saw a wash of sparks flood their vision. Their bodies felt weird, as somehow they could sense their friends simultaneously both in front and beneath them. The sensations departed, along with the wind and rain. The waves began to subside and the feeling of Robinton and Menolly on the boat in front of them faded, leaving only the strange sensation their friends were below them somewhere. The four fire-lizards looked about and saw they were in an odd chamber.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "Uh, _Panthro_?" Ryuu spoke up from where he was looking into the monitor. "I don't see any people in the cargo hold; just the natives!"

     "Ryuu, I'm still detecting heat signatures from the people on the sailboat!" Puma yelled. "They haven't fallen overboard!"

     "Uh-oh!" Ryuu exclaimed. " _Panthro_! Lock onto those four birds and bring them to the Bridge! And raise Temporal and Psionic shields again! Oh, and dump that water somewhere."

 

     Screeching, Zair launched himself into the air, followed quickly by Menolly's three. They flew about, searching for an exit, but found none. They paused in mid-air to get their bearings and were about to jump _between_ to Robinton and Menolly. Then something happened.

     Somehow, they were _already between_! But that was _impossible_! The room was still here! Air, light, and the water were still about them! And if that wasn't enough, that strange static charge again pulsed through their bodies and the process of shifting repeated. Sparks blotted out their vision.

     The transporter finished materializing the fire-lizards on the Bridge. Once released from the confinement beams, they began screeching at the top of their lungs and zipping about the Bridge as their eyes whirled white and yellow.

     "Was _that_ such a good idea?" Puma screamed as she ducked when Zair flew past.

     " _Panthro_ , what's the next scheduled music?" Ryuu asked, ignoring her complaint. Diver flew past, screaming, but then doubled back to stare in stunned silence at Ryuu.

     "What?" Ryuu demanded. Diver took off again, screaming in terror.

     "'Rush': 'Roll the Bones', track 5: 'Where's My Thing'," the ship replied. "It's an instrumental."

     "'Rush'?" Wolf exclaimed. "What are you trying to do? Kill them? You remember the last time you played 'Rush' to a fire-lizard?" Beauty paused in front of his face and screamed before zipping off. "You tell 'm, girl!" Wolf muttered, monitoring the progress of the sailboat in the storm.

     "'Rush' isn't that bad!" Ryuu protested. "You're thinking of the early years. This piece is fairly nice. _Panthro_ , engage."

     A half-second into the music, all four fire-lizards slammed on their brakes to hover in mid-air, letting out puzzled chirps as they stopped to listen. Beauty landed near Ryuu and Zair settled on the weapons console Wolf manned. Diver landed by Puma and gave her a puzzled look-over. Rocky settled where he could look at them all. They cocked their heads, concentrating on the sounds. They even experimented to sing with it.

     "Oo-ooh, so you guys like that, do you?" Ryuu observed.

     "I'd never have believed it if I didn't see it!" Puma said.

     " _Panthro_ , what other pieces aesthetically match this and the ones I played to Snap?" Ryuu asked.

     "Several thousand," the ship replied.

     "Well, you better cue them up for the next couple of days," Ryuu said.

     "How did you know?" Wolf asked, glancing back.

     "Those three belong to Menolly," Ryuu responded pointing them out. "I've noticed how her squadron responds when she sings. In fact, a lot of other peoples' fire-lizards tend to join in whenever she's singing."

     Beauty warbled at them when the Rush instrumental finished and before the next music started.

     "Don't worry about them, Beauty," Ryuu told her. "They're in good claws with _Panthro_." Puma winced at that. "They're just going to get a little wet, that's all."

     The next piece of music to start was one that Ryuu remembered as being a very happy tune that would be sure to cheer up the creatures. He tapped up the display and saw it was Yanni's "Within Attraction."

     "I've analyzed their voices and calculated which tunes might match their interests," the ship reported.

     "You know, I really hate that name you gave the ship!" Puma spat. "Aside for the fact that ships should be named after females, it certainly doesn't do her justice being named after a big cat!"

     "I don't know, but I kind of like it," the ship's computer spoke up. "It's unique, catchy, and it certainly beats the all-too predictable 'Draco'."

     "There, you see?" Ryuu asked. "Even _Panthro_ likes _her_ name, if you insist," he said grinning. He looked at Beauty to note her reaction.

     Sure, enough, the fire-lizards started to relax enough to earnestly add their voices to compete with instruments that sounded vaguely like fire-lizards singing in the song.

 

     Following Ryuu's order, the _Panthro_ transported the volume of water out of the cargo hold, rematerializing it several hundred kilometers away.

     However, a few drops of seawater had already seeped through the seals covering a ventilation shaft, partially shorting out an EPS manifold supplying power to a temporal stasis field surrounding another cargo hold. Normally, this would not be a problem, as the stasis field would still be effective for several years on inertia alone, needing only occasional sips of power to maintain integrity. But as one temporal stasis field cannot fully contain another, the temporal shields raised about the entire vessel began causing the cargo hold's field to erode, allowing the being inside to slowly start moving for the first time since he was entombed nearly 2450 years ago.

 

Another part of the field:

     "There's just no sign of them!" F'nor shouted over the wind.

     "Mnementh can't hear them, either!" F'lar shouted back.

     Just then, a wall of freezing water slammed the wing of dragons, surprising the riders.

     "Fw-hah!" F'nor spat when he caught his breath again. "Salt!?" he exclaimed.

     "We'll try again from the north of this storm!" F'lar shouted as he helped Menolly's Brownie to regain his grip about the bronze rider's neck. "We've got to keep searching! We'll find them, Brownie," he assured the fire-lizard. He asked Mnementh to pass the coordinates to the rest of the wing and they made the jump _between_.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     Several hours later, F'ress relieved Ryuu and he made his way to his cabin to rest. Mike had given up on impressing Kylara any further with the Holodeck and he continued to escort her about the ship. It was coincidence that they all were in the corridor at the same time.

     "Kylara, this is Ryuu," Mike said to her. Ryuu turned to see them approach.

     " _This_ Impressed that gold dragon?" she asked incredulously. Ryuu had to grin.

     "I _am_ that gold dragon," Ryuu muttered. "So, what have you been up to lately?"

     "Uh--" Mike stammered. Kylara's fire-lizard gave a mighty yawn.

     _They Flew earlier,_ she said. _Then she got frightened by flying._

     "Picking up on the skills for the crime, are we?" Ryuu teased Mike.

     Kylara stared at the man and considered her options. That he had Impressed a gold himself was beyond odd. But from the look of him, if she had tried to seduce him the way she had Mike, she'd likely kill this Ryuu! _Still he seems to be the leader,_ she thought, _and there are other ways to please a man, even if he was a green, or a gold rider._ Her queen fire-lizard sighed.

     _Now she wants to Fly_ him _!_ the native muttered. Ryuu snapped his glare at Kylara and gave her an appraising look.

     "What do you _want_?" he finally demanded.

     "What?" Kylara asked astonished.

     "You seduced Mike. Now you want to seduce _me_! What do you _want_?" Ryuu said, cutting right to the point. His gaze narrowed as if he was probing her which puzzled Mike.

     _In our human form, we're telepathically inert!_ he thought. _How can Ryuu--?_

     "You wish to use us to take over the colony," Ryuu snorted coming out of his trance. He raised his hand to stroke a finger along her jaw. "Well, let me give you a piece of advice, it'll take more that a pretty face or a few rolls in bed to influence any of us like that. In a couple of short decades, you'll lose that pretty face, but we'll still just as we are. Besides, if you really want to seduce me, you'll have better luck using _her_." He finished pointing at her fire-lizard. Both Kylara and her queen gasped as the man turned to continue to his cabin.

     "Uh, Ryuu?" Mike hesitantly asked. "I'm really confused about something. Did you really read her mind just now?"

     "Think about it, Mike," Ryuu responded without turning. Then he stopped a few paces away and considered something.

     "Actually, Kylara, there _is_ something you can do for me with your body," Ryuu said slowly turning back to them.


	12. Part 12

**Part 12:**

Present Pass, 13.5.4:

     Ryuu relieved Wolf from the Command chair and Wolf took over the Navigation console from Arye. They were still guiding the small craft through the storm, evading the occasional wings of dragons searching for them.

     "I'll say this for them, they're persistent," Wolf said.

     "I can understand why," Ryuu said grinning. "That Robinton is pretty high up on the totem pole, but is evidently still pretty popular."

     "I am detecting unauthorized intrusion to classified records," _Panthro_ suddenly reported.

     "That shouldn't be," Ryuu said frowning. "Recheck your viral version index. I should be authorized to fully access everything Aivas has--"

     "Red flag alert!" _Panthro_ called. "Hostile intrusion detected!"

     "What the hell could be causing that?" Wolf said looking back in confusion. "There's nothing on this planet that could be intercepting our--"

     "Lupus! Pardus!" Ryuu suddenly called on his communicator. "Perimeter alert! There're two hostile monitors down there!" Ryuu reminded Wolf. "All monitors Alert! Report to Lupus and Pardus immediately!"

 

Outside the Aivas building:

     " _Panthro_ , can you detect their location?" Canis, Wolf's other monitor asked the ship when she and the other monitors joined Ryuu and Wolf's male monitors.

     "Seven kilohoramters bearing two-three-nine from your present location," _Panthro_ replied.

     "Let's go!" she called to Pardus and Lupus. They all ran, quickly reaching the area in less than twenty horonds, but the signal disappeared.

     "Chrysaetos described the hostile he encountered as a burrowing reptiloid native species," Pardus said, searching the ground with sonar for signs of tunnels. The other monitors also scanned, but no signs of the other monitor belonging to their target were found.

     Several fire-lizards, disturbed by their arrival, watched them for a while before flying off.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "Still nothing?" Ryuu asked after getting the report. "I wouldn't be surprised that Lisa's monitor will be long gone. It's probably hightailing it out of there to report to the other one in Fort Weyr." Ryuu chewed the inside of his cheek for a time.

     "If I were her, I'd be concerned about me sniffing about the original settlement," Ryuu finally said. "Get some of you guys inside with Aivas," he finally ordered. "The rest of you set up a perimeter about the facility. She may have them try to destroy the interface to prevent us from getting her identity. And this colony will need that computer if they ever hope to get rid of Thread."

     "Ryuu, helping them find this computer is violating the Prime Directive!" Wolf spoke up.

     "If she destroys that machine, _that_ will be violating the Prime Directive!" Ryuu shot back. "Besides, I owe Paul a few favors."

     "Who?" Wolf asked astonished, but Ryuu had turned away.

     "If her monitors show up, you've got to protect that machine!" Ryuu ordered the Menagerie. "Let them know that we already have her identity if you have to. But make them aware that this is one asset that must be left intact for the colony!"

     "Understood. Pardus out."

     Ryuu sat back in his chair to consider their options. When nothing more came to mind, he turned his attention back to Beauty and the others looking at him.

     "I brought you guys a surprise," he said grinning, pulling out a flute. " _Panthro_ , start Kitaro's "Winds of Youth" from his _Mandala_ album." He played along with the music as the four fire-lizards listened and soon were enthusiastically accompanying him. A sudden loud percussion startled them all at the end of the first flute measure.

     "I listen to this, and I can't help thinking of myself," he told them as the instrumental shifted to random-seeming percussion instruments. "Of all the songs I've heard, I think this comes closest to how I feel. Old, sad, alone, but with something there--like a pleasant memory--endless, even as it ends."

     _Life song_ , Zair announced. Ryuu smiled.

     "Life song," Ryuu agreed stroking the bronze's neck. "Yeah. That about sums it up, doesn't it? Life song. I like that."

     He resumed playing the flute as the flute's second measure of the music began, following all the fits and stops note for note in the instrumental. As the song finished, all the fire-lizards raised their voices in unison in a sad cry.

 

Fort Weyr:

     "Journeyman Sherri!" N'ton shouted when he saw her while getting a quick bite before going back out to search. "I was getting concerned." The woman looked at the Weyrleader with a puzzled face.

     "About what?" she asked.

     "The way you disappeared after Hatching the other day," N'ton said. "There's been another woman that disappeared that morning, and with the message we just received from the Harperhall confirming our suspicions, we feared that you had been grabbed, too."

     "Wh-what do you mean?" Sherri asked. She knew the answer before it came, but centuries ago she had learned how to act surprised about something that was supposed to be news.

     "That guard that had escorted you from Fort," N'ton began, worried that he would distress the woman too much.

     "Mike?" Sherri asked. "Yes, I know him a little. Is there a problem?"

     "Apparently," N'ton replied. "We just got word that he's had a history of attacking women and killing them in Bitra. Evidently, he's moved to Fort to continue that behavior. It looks like a former Weyrwoman has been killed. We found her body in a cavern. I guess her fire-lizard went _between_ when she died."

     Sherri was genuinely shocked by the news.

     _RYUU!_ she thought to herself. _That was pretty cold-blooded! The wanted poster would've been bad enough, but_ this _\--!_

     "I--I gu--guess I'm pretty lucky!" she gasped with some honest astonishment. "Have you found the guard?"

     "Not yet, but the Weyr and surrounding Holds have been alerted," N'ton reassured her.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     Late that night, Ryuu was returning to his quarters and encountered T'khill and Stealth leaving theirs.

     "Going back up so soon to fly the ship?" Ryuu asked.

     "No," T'khill replied. "I'm taking Stealth to the Holodeck to bathe and exercise him."

     "Mind if I join you?" Ryuu asked slowly approaching the bronze hatchling. Ryuu held his hand out to let the dragon sniff him, sending pleasant thoughts the whole time.

     "You may," T'khill nodded solemnly as Stealth actually accepted Ryuu's approach. "It appears he has accepted your apology."

     "It was just a misunderstanding. I had no intention of causing anyone harm," Ryuu said. "And we've given each other those little jolts for centuries without it causing any problems before. I just never gave it much thought before now."

     "But with our prey aware of you, she feels your Gateway," T'khill pointed out.

     "True," Ryuu sighed. "God only knows what she thinks of what's going on. Probably driving her nuts with worry. She's not used it since our encounter, but now that she's bonded with a dragon...."

     "Yes, I've heard," T'khill said. "One of their breeding females."

     "And it doubles our chances of a fatal error," Ryuu said pointedly. They walked for several minutes, traveling to the nearest Holodeck that was a few decks down from their quarters before Ryuu spoke again.

     "We need to get all the data we can about the care and feeding of these creatures as soon as possible," he told T'khill. "All of our lives depend on Stealth and Voith getting the best care we can provide and ensuring we don't have any accidents."

     "I will endeavor to learn," T'khill said as he commanded the door to open. They were both surprised by the scenery that greeted them.

     "It's in use?" T'khill asked astonished.

     "Mike and Kylara, if I'm not mistaken," Ryuu snorted.

     "Shall we use one of the other chambers?" T'khill asked stepping back.

     "No need," Ryuu said proceeding. "This may be fortunate timing. Kylara should know something about the natives that we can use."

     "They are mating," T'khill reported as his superior senses revealed what the chamber was being used for. "You humans don't like such intrusions during your mating season and rituals."

     "You forget," Ryuu said glancing back. "We're not human anymore. We're dragons." He continued on, leaving T'khill confused by his statement but with no other option than to follow and bring his charge along.

 

     "Don't mind us," Ryuu said when Kylara screamed in outrage at being interrupted. She scrambled to hide herself behind some bushes near the river in the simulation. "I find I have a need of your assistance again."

     "Ryuu!" Mike exclaimed.

     "No, I don't need her body again," Ryuu said waving him off. "You can continue what you were doing. I just need to pick her brains apart. It doesn't involve the rest of her."

     "Wh-what?" Kylara exclaimed.

     "You see, we've got this little situation with a couple of our crew," Ryuu told her. "I understand you were a queen rider? How much different is the care of male natives from your females?"

     "Wh-what do y-you mean?" Kylara asked. Ryuu raised his head to summon T'khill and Stealth.

     Kylara scrambled to her feet and backed up against a tree when she sighted T'khill and Stealth.

     "A wherry?" she screamed, afraid she was losing her mind again. " _With a dragon?_ "

     "Do you get this a lot?" Ryuu asked looking back at T'khill in confusion.

     "It images that I do now," T'khill replied. T'khill considered Ryuu's reaction was strange when the man merely nodded.

 

At Sea:

     Menolly stayed with the wheel throughout the night after she got Robinton into the cabin. She still had panic-fits over the memory of bringing down the sail and almost losing the fabric over the side, but she somehow managed to tie it loosely around the boom so it wouldn't be swept away. With the improvements to the ship's steering, she was then able to assist Robinton into the relative safety of the cabin. Now, even though that blue glow was a constant reminder that lightning could strike at any moment, no bolts had hit the mast for several hours.

     She woke with a start when her knees buckled and she bounced her nose painfully against the wheel.

     _I can't keep this up!_ she thought. Looking about, she could see nothing but blackness. Dark clouds were occasionally lit by distant lightning. She could no longer tell anymore if it was day or night.

     Resigned, she tied the wheel down and made her way to the cabin. Quickly closing the door once she was inside, she started to gag on the stench that almost drove her back outside.

     "S-sor-ry!" Robinton said in the darkness. "I guess being this seasick wouldn't be good for a career as in the Fishercrafthall."

     "I think we both should stick to the Harpercraft," she said, her voice betraying her exhaustion. Menolly decided she was too tired to be driven out by the smell of vomit, and she opened a glowbasket to check on Poll. Fortunately, he wasn't hurt. The impact with the wheel merely stunned him. Robinton had been keeping him company and wouldn't let him go out to be with her.

     "So who's driving this boat?" Robinton asked, holding tightly to the table as the ship insanely rocked.

     "The storm, for all I care," Menolly sighed. "I rigged a sea anchor to keep the wind from dictating where we go, but we're still at the mercy of the currents. I've no idea where we are, or when we're going to get out of this. I don't understand. I sent the others to fetch help, but there's been no sign of any dragonriders from Benden, Fort, or Ista. And now Poll says he can't go _between_. He says he can't see the way there."

     "And no sign of Zair, Beauty, or your other bronzes," Robinton said forlornly. "I sure hope they're alright."

     "So do I," Menolly said, biting back her tears. She had been so busy trying to steer the skiff, she hadn't much time to dwell on losing them. She hoped she wouldn't suffer the same way other dragonriders do when they lose their life mates. But with her, she still had other fire-lizards. She was greatly worried about Robinton, who only had his one. "So do I," she repeated, stroking Poll.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "Well, that was rather disappointing," Ryuu muttered as they left the Holodeck. "You would've thought she would have more useful info about these natives." He squatted to address Stealth. "Sorry, young one," Ryuu said. "We will find out the information we need to properly raise you. But you shouldn't worry. While we might not be your own kind, we will do our best by you, and T'khill and his people can teach you everything they know about flying. If there's anyone more intimate with flight than them, I've never heard of them, and I've explored nearly eighty percent of this galaxy."

     _I am not worried,_ Stealth said proudly. _T'khill is my rider. This--Gateway--he can do--is something I will learn. He trusts it and what he can do. I am his dragon. We are together._

     "I'm sure you two will make a fine team," Ryuu smiled, nodding in understanding. "He's been a loyal and trusted companion to all of us for better than two thousand years."

     As Ryuu stood and turned to go to his quarters, T'khill grabbed his arm to halt him.

     "I have a puzzlement," T'khill said cocking his head at Ryuu.

     "What's that?" Ryuu asked.

     "That," T'khill said. Ryuu's eyebrows shot up.

     "That what?" Ryuu inquired developing his own confusion.

     "I have noticed you lately have not tried to correcting my speech," T'khill complained. "The Caitians, I understand. They are linguists. They will even correct your speech when you make an error. But of all the other humans, you have not pointed out my errors. Indeed, the other day, you agreed with my erroneous phrasing." Ryuu began to chuckle.

     "I've begun to suspect as much, and you've just confirmed it," Ryuu laughed. "You guys have been doing this on purpose, haven't you?"

     T'khill blinked in surprise.

     "I thought so," Ryuu said grinning. He reached out to tap T'khill's beak with a fingernail. "You guys can't smile, but you've been laughing at us all this time. The Caitians, especially, haven't you?"

     "We did not intend to cause them distress," T'khill said. "But to maintain the illusion, we had to continue with them. You humans were our targets."

     "I see," Ryuu said nodding. "Well, don't worry. I won't reveal your little secret. I enjoy a good joke. Hell, I've instigated enough of them, and there's still a few you all haven't caught on yet."

     "May I ask what brought you suspicion?" T'khill asked.

     "A couple of things, actually," Ryuu said, pausing to think about it. "A few days ago, you made two errors in one sentence. That, in itself, wouldn't have been so weird. But then I began to notice Stealth here never once has made a grammatical error. However, with you two bonded as close as you must be--" Understanding dawned in T'khill's eyes and Ryuu stopped.

     "I comprehend," T'khill said, bringing up a taloned hand to rhythmically tap on his beak. "Then the others may solve the puzzle soon."

     "Perhaps," Ryuu agreed. "But then, it might still go on for a few more years without them catching it. Remember, I have an interest in dragons, so I noticed how Stealth never makes a mistake. The others might not because they don't have the same interest." Ryuu turned to continue to the lift but T'khill stopped him once more.

     "There is something else that puzzles me," T'khill added. "Your statement before we entered the Holodeck, you mentioned that you humans were now dragons."

     "Not just us humans," Ryuu seriously muttered. "All of us. The whole crew. You and your people as well."

     "How so?" T'khill asked cocking his head.

     "I've known it for some time," Ryuu said looking as though he might slip into another one of his flashbacks. "The others haven't come to the realization, but I have. I've known it ever since we visited system TXu-744-855."

     "That encounter altered you somehow," T'khill said. "Beyond what the Gateway can do, you've been altered permanently."

     "Yeah," Ryuu muttered. "I've told you guys how I always had an influence on felines, in whatever form I took. But ever since I picked up that sword, I found I could directly speak to them. There was more that that weapon did to me. I've got memories--things I supposedly did that I've never done--these damned flashbacks I keep having."

     "The others do not believe it is possible to alter us like that," T'khill said.

     "Only _DRAGON_ technology can affect _DRAGON_ technology," Ryuu reminded him. "That sword was made by that artifact we were sent to retrieve. Half the memories in my head belong to that strange twin of mine from that world, and even he didn't acknowledge most of them. But they're ours, nonetheless. That sword and helmet were his daughters from a previous life."

     "And something about you claiming to be a creature called a 'cat-lord'?" T'khill interrupted.

     "That both me and that Gold Dragon-Hero are _The_ Cat-Lord," Ryuu said shaking his head in confusion. "The flashbacks have been revealing much. There's a lot I still don't understand, but this much is clear: we were made by _DRAGONS_ to _be DRAGONS_. In--some--strange manner--we were made to be _THEIR_ children."

     " _THEY_ have their own means to procreate," T'khill pointed out.

     "That doesn't change what happened to us or the meaning of why it was done."

     "And the other humans will not listen to you?" T'khill inquired.

     "They just don't understand," Ryuu said with exhaustion. "Wolf comprehends some of the mechanics involved, but even he loses it when it comes to this metaphysical bullshit. But it's the only explanation that fits."

     "I do not fully comprehend myself," T'khill said. "But it appears you do."

     "I'm still trying," Ryuu said shrugging his shoulders. He looked at Stealth who was trying to follow their conversation.

     "I know," Ryuu said caressing his eye ridges. "'Nothing is _between_ '." The bronze hatchling looked uncertainly between Ryuu and his rider.

     _I don't think you are supposed to be talking about this,_ Stealth nervously said.

     "Don't worry, Stealth," Ryuu reassured him with a grin. "We're all just one big happy family. _THEM_ , you, and us."


	13. Part 13

**Part 13:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.6:

     "It's beginning to veer north," Puma said. "Their thermal signatures are still inside the cabin."

     "Wolf, arm weapons and target the boat," Ryuu said. "Fire!"

     "It's done," Wolf said flatly.

     "Full tractor beam," Ryuu instructed as he stood from the Command seat. "Cut off the storm from them. I'm going down."

 

     Ryuu materialized on the still rocking deck of the skiff and carefully made his way to the cabin. The smell from the enclosure caught him by surprise and he had to gasp for clean air before he could proceed.

     "I really wish this scanner was working better," he muttered to himself. "At least well enough to tell where to step." As it was, it confirmed what his eyes could tell him. Three life forms: two human, one Pernese native, all sleeping off the effects of the ship's weapons set to stun. He left the door open as he entered.

     His scanner detected the pieces of the broken weapons they had come south to get, and he grinned evilly.

     _This'll become the mystery of the decade,_ he thought while he untied the container holding the devices and instructed the _Panthro_ to transport it up. As it dematerialized, he checked on the status of the three.

     Robinton was a bit dehydrated and his stomach was traumatized by the signals from his Vagus nerve. Menolly was in better shape, but both humans had large amounts of fatigue poisons throughout their systems. The native bronze was healthy with only slight bruising that had mostly healed.

     _Too bad,_ Ryuu wistfully thought. He would've preferred one of the females. All three got injected with transponders.

     Ryuu finished with a satisfied smile and signaled the ship.

     "Alright, _Panthro_ ," he said. "Transport us to the Holodeck. Once we're onboard, tell T'khill to make for the colony transports at best speed."

     He had to blink from the flood of light when the transporter beam momentarily disassembled the little skiff and everyone on it. Within moments, the _Panthro_ was on its way to the other side of the planet. When he stepped out from the cabin and closed the door, Ryuu barely had time to register the prepared scene on Holodeck Six before the transporter worked its magic and set them down in the cove.

     Once he was satisfied with the results, Ryuu signaled for transport back to the ship and made his way to the Bridge.

 

     "Perfect, T'khill!" he exclaimed with a grin. "Damn! I wish we were going there! That's a beautiful cove! And the sight of that volcano is sure to whet their appetite. I'm sure it will guide them to the original settlement." He then looked at the fire-lizards keeping Stealth company. The album made by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard for the movie _Gladiator_ had just finished.

     "Well, Little Ones, I'm afraid it's time for you to go home," he gently told them. "Oh, I almost forgot," he said reaching for Rocky. He applied the injector to his belly. The bronze jumped at the short hiss and sniffed where the device had touched him. Ryuu stroked the area and grinned.

     "Nothing is _between_ ," Ryuu said making all the fire-lizards look at him in surprise.

     "Just remember, you guys got lost in the storm," he told them. "You followed as best as you could and you're happy to see your friends again. You were never here, I wasn't here, there is no Shadowdragon. Nothing is _between_. Take care of yourselves. I love you guys!" He stood up and backed away a couple of paces.

     "Okay, _Panthro_ ," he said. As the transporter locked them in place, but before the dematerialization begun, he winked at Beauty. _Good bye, Love,_ he sent her. He turned to look at the scene on the main viewer and stared at the planet from orbit.

 

At the cove:

     The fire-lizards found themselves in sunlight standing on the sandy beach by the water.

     Rocky leapt into the air with a scream of joy and disappeared, reappearing just a few dragonlengths away.

     _I can_ between _again!_ he shouted. The others lifted up and excitedly jumped as well, and happily chattered to each other.

     Suddenly, another bronze fire-lizard appeared among them as they were popping in and out of _between_ and angrily scolded them all. It was Poll.

     The instant they recognized him, the others leapt upon him in mid air and the combined mass of five fire-lizards fell into the water.

     The water exploded as four joyous and one irritated fire-lizard launched back into flight. They settled on the beach and discussed their respective adventures. They soon had an argument over what the four had seen:

     _Shadowdragon!_ Zair told Poll. _Ryuu-not-Ryuu! Puma! Wolf! Bronze dragon hatchling! Talking wherry rider! Halfway_ Between _! Jump without_ Between _!_ He gave him the coordinates of where they were.

     _Thread-for-mind!_ Poll screamed at him. _Nothing there!_

     Was _there!_ Diver insisted. _Music!_

     _Male Gold!_ Poll dismissed.

     _Ryuu MALE GOLD!_ Beauty countered.

     _Shadowdragon!!_ Diver screamed. _Zair, Beauty, Rocky saw!_

     _Nothing there,_ Poll said, uncertainly. _Shadowdragon?_ he nervously asked.

     _Music!_ Beauty insisted. _Diver and Rocky hear! Zair hear!_

     _Eats-too-much-Thre--_ Poll began to accuse Beauty, but something in the environment made him stop and listen.

     _*_ Zair said.

     _?_ Rocky asked.

     _#_ Poll tried to say.

     _¡!_ Diver exclaimed.

     _S_ _HADOWCAT!_ Beauty screamed, and they all launched into the air and went _between_.

     "Panthera, reporting," the sleek black figure transmitted to the _Panthro_ as she stepped from the brush and looked out into the cove where the sailboat listed. "The natives have reunited with each other and are returning to their owners. I will monitor their progress and maintain security in the vicinity until they leave. Panthera out."

 

     Menolly and Robinton woke at the sound of fire-lizards screaming and the commotion of them flying about the small cabin.

     "HEY! Settle down!" she yelled reflexively then blinked in astonishment at which fire-lizards were there.

     "Beauty! Rocky! Diver!" she screamed once she recognized them. The three, along with Poll, shot to her in joyous abandon, leaving Zair hovering in the air, forgotten and puzzled.

     "Zair!" Robinton exclaimed and the little bronze zipped over to him as well.

     "Oh, I thought I lost you," Robinton said coaxing him to his arm so he could look him over. "You gave me such a fright. You are such a good sight for this old man's tired eyes."

     _Why cry?_ Zair asked licking at his tears. _I'm here! Evil wind gone! Evil wind not hurt us! Were safe halfway_ between _with--_

     Nothing _is_ between _!_ Beauty suddenly shouted at him.

     "Menolly!" Robinton exclaimed. "The boat! We're not rocking! The storm's over!" She looked up from where she had been weeping over them to realize what Robinton was going on about. Still fiercely hugging her four, she rushed to the door, opened it, and stared at the sight.

     _Nice!_ Beauty chirped, blinking at the bright sunlight.

     "MasterHarper! Come and look!" Menolly cried.

 

Fort Hold, midmorning:

     Thumping from his cane preceded Jarod's entry to the runner station 300. The station agent was startled to see the man.

     "Jarod, only one message to deliver: myself. 'I quit!'" he said wincing in agony from his leg. "Now I have to report to Master Robinton."

     "The MasterHarper's not here," the agent said.

     "I see," Jarod said, too much in pain to care. "Who's in charge?"

     "Sebell," the agent said. "Oh, and Master Traller's been found."

     "What? He has? Where? Is he okay?" Jarod exclaimed in rapid succession. Just then another runner burst in the door.

     "Marlet from Southern Boll!" the new arrival shouted setting his pouch on the counter. "Ten messages! Seven for Benden Hold, two for High Reaches Weyr, one for the Harperhall!"

     "Never mind that!" Jarod said impatiently putting a hand on the new runner's shoulder. "What about Master Traller!"

     "He's with Sebell," the agent said. Once he said that, Jarod was out the door hobbling down the path. The station agent motioned for the runner standing there.

     "Run! Get Pinch! He'll be in Master Robinton's office! Now hurry!"

     "Shouldn't I wait for the message for the hall?" Marlet asked.

     "Come back for it later!" the agent insisted. "Get Pinch now! Tell him Jarod's arrived and is heading for Traller!"

 

     Sherri thanked the brown rider for the transport to the Healercraft. She was there to pick up more supplies for Brekke while she continued to work on the injured dragons at Fort Weyr. But taking the opportunity that it gave her, Sherri signaled the ship with her communicator.

     "Can I speak with Ryuu, please?" she asked as she looked about her. The early morning was drizzly with fog, which helped to keep people under shelter, but she noted a man hobbling toward the arch to the Harpercraft Hall. He didn't pay her any attention.

     "Ye-e-sss?" Ryuu's voice came over her comm unit.

     "Ryuu, this is Sherri," she said. "How could you do that?"

     "Do what?" he asked puzzled.

     "Kill that woman like that!" There was a considerable pause before a response. "And I thought you wouldn't harm one of those fire-lizards!" she added.

     "I didn't kill her," Ryuu finally said. "I had _Panthro_ whip up a batch of meat to look like her, with all the appropriate marks and injuries to convince the locals. She and the native are perfectly well with Mike escorting her up on the ship. It's entertaining, actually. She's trying to plot to take over. And you should've seen it when she met T'khill and Stealth."

     "'Up on the ship'?" she asked puzzled. "Then you're not on the _Panthro_?"

     "Nope," Ryuu quickly responded. "I'm working my way into that regional capitol of yours. I'll see you when you get back. I've got to go, now. Don't call anymore, or you'll blow my cover."

     "Ryuu!" Sherri exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing? They know what you look like! They'll grab you before you get within a kilometer of the place!"

     "Don't worry," Ryuu told her with an evil chuckle. "You remember Ancalagon the Black, don't you?"

     "Oh--shit!" Sherri nervously gulped as all the color drained from her face.

 

     The runner passed Jarod before the journeyman reached the floor of the valley and was in the Harperhall before Jarod had crossed a quarter of the distance. Still, he was hobbling as fast as he could and was worn out by the time he reached the arch, having to detour around the open field when a brown dragon landed to drop off a passenger.

     Jarod paused to catch his breath and dabbed a kerchief to his brow that was dripping despite morning chill. In a few moments, he recovered enough to continue. But just as he was about to step past the threshold and into the courtyard, a journeyman suddenly blocked his path.

     "I don't believe we've met," the stranger said. Jarod looked up in surprise.

     "No," Jarod sighed. "No, I don't suppose we have." He stepped aside to pass, but the other again blocked him.

     "My master never mentioned anything about you to me, either," the man said. Jarod looked at him in exasperation.

     "Well, funny you should mention that, but Master Tuck never mentioned you to me, either, Mekelroy," Jarod said with a snarl. "But then, that's why we start out as lowly apprentices and have to work our way up to journeyman. We have to ferret these things out before we can become a master like Tuck, now don't we, 'Darning'?" Jarod suddenly frowned and shook his head. "No, that's not right, that's what one does to socks. Stitch? No--that's me," he muttered scratching his head. "Plug? No, you're not big enough. Patch? Nyah!" His hand went to his chin as he thought about it. Then with a snap of his fingers, he exclaimed, "Pinch! That's it! Pinch! No--no, he never said anything to me about you either." With that, Jarod stepped around the stunned journeyman and continued.

     Pinch was dumbfounded for several moments before he decided to confront this stranger again. When he caught up with Jarod, the man was angrily muttering to himself.

     "Damn stupid idiot! I told him not to rely on those sharding stupid blades of his! But _no-o-o-o_! 'I'm the Master and you're just a stupid journeyman!'" Jarod was saying. "It's no wonder that that Ryuu-person bested him! And _WHAT DO YOU WANT?_ " he yelled, whirling on Pinch.

     "Whoa! Easy!" Pinch said jumping back. "I take it we're working for the same master!"

     "So? That doesn't mean he can't keep secrets from us about each other," Jarod snapped.

     "I understand," Pinch said.

     "But he _can_ go and get himself hurt because he doesn't listen to good advice from a subordinate!" Jarod hissed. He tapped his temple, saying, " _This_ is the only weapon we have! _This_ ," he said slapping his chest, "is the only tool we can rely on! Anything else is just a crutch--for a cripple!" he said, hefting his cane before Pinch's face. "But Master Tuck thinks the more blades he has hidden up his arse, the safer he is! I'll lay Bitran odds he's been teaching you the same!" Jarod spat to the side to show his disgust at the idea before continuing his walk.

     "What's wrong?" Pinch asked.

     "'What's wrong?' 'What's wrong?' you ask?" Jarod mocked, whirling on him again. "I'll tell you what's wrong! My leg is busted. It hurts like nobody's business. And when I'm able to report, I find Master Tuck is missing. So, I come here to report to Robinton. Only _he's_ stepped away now! And don't think I don't recognize an ambush when I see one. You had that station agent notify you when I showed up. Then you ask me, 'what's wrong?' _Figure it out!_ "

     "Sorry," Pinch said backing up a step. It was conceivable that Master Traller could've had his journeymen unaware of each other. If so, he evidently discovered it at a bad moment with Jarod injured like that. The other journeyman glared at him for several moments getting his measure.

     "So, are you any good?" Jarod suddenly asked with a snarl.

     "What?" Pinch asked surprised.

     "With the blades," Jarod bobbed his head at him. "You any good with them?"

     "Good enough," Pinch replied. Jarod snorted.

     "Show me."

     "Against you?" Pinch laughed. Then he had to jump back when Jarod swiped the end of his cane just in front of his chest. Had it connected, the blow could've easily cracked a rib.

     "Show me!" Jarod hissed with a wild look in his eyes.

     "Now, look--" Pinch began, but Jarod advanced on him.

     "No! _You_ look!" Jarod growled, giving him a painful poke in the chest with the cane. "I'm rather irritated with this leg and all the other garbage I've put up with, and that includes you! You better learn how to defend yourself if you hope to last longer than me in this business. _Now--show--me--journeyman_!" he emphasized by jabbing his cane again into Pinch's chest with each word.

     "Ow!" Pinch exclaimed rubbing his chest. "Alright! You asked for it!"

 

At the cove:

     "Any idea where we are?" Robinton asked as they came out of the jungle with armloads of fruits.

     "Not yet," Menolly said. "With nightfall, I might if I can see the Dawn Sisters."

     "How's that?" Robinton inquired.

     "Well, I don't know if you ever noticed, but they seem to stay in the same place in the sky. A few other stars move over the seasons, but not the Dawn Sisters."

     "Are you certain?" Robinton asked incredulously. "I've taken a few peeks through that distance viewer at Fort Weyr, but I've not heard of any stars acting like you say."

     "The Dawn Sisters are hard to see from the Weyr," Menolly said distractedly as she puzzled over the fire-lizards' behavior. "Hard to see from Telgar, too--what is wrong with you guys?" she asked Beauty.

     _Shadowcat!_ Beauty replied with a shudder, looking about nervously with yellow-tinted eyes.

     "Zair says they got some fright about here," Robinton said. "Something about a feline."

     "Yeah, I'm getting that from them, too," Menolly said, nervously looking about. "Maybe we should get back to the boat."

     Once back at the skiff, everyone relaxed.

     "It's going to take some effort to clean up the cabin," Menolly said wrinkling her nose just thinking about the job.

     "Oooh," Robinton grimaced. "Well, I should get busy with that right away, Shipmaster." Menolly's eyes got big.

     "MasterHarper!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to imply--" Her protests were cut off when Robinton burst out laughing.

     "Well, I _did_ contribute!" he said when he could talk again. "It's only fair that I help clean up, if you'll _let_ me!" He had to laugh again, when her face turned deep red.

     His smile faded when they entered the cabin, not because of the stench, but because he felt something was wrong. He slowed, trying to puzzle out what.

     "MasterHarper?" Menolly asked, waiting for him to enter the cabin.

     "Doesn't something seem out of place to you?" Robinton asked as he made room for her to enter. "I just have the oddest feeling that someone's been here, but you and I were out of sight of the boat for a few minutes at best--" He broke off when Menolly suddenly gasped.

     "Those devices!" she whispered in horror. "I tied the trunk down right here! Did those Oldtimers--or _Ryuu_ \--?"

     Robinton looked closer at the deck, looking for signs of tampering.

     "No recent footprints and no scrapes from having moved the trunk," he observed from looking at the thin layer of vomit. It puzzled him that more of the liquid had encroached into the area where the trunk had been than what he thought there should be. _When could it have been removed?_ he wondered. _And it was heavy. It should've left marks from someone taking it._

 

Harperhall:

     "Like I said, you use those things like a _crutch_!" Jarod spat.

     Pinch shook his left hand as he limped to the side. Three of his knives lay scattered about after Jarod had knocked them one by one out of both his hands. That last blow nearly broke both his leg as well as his hand when he was reaching for a fourth blade.

     "Well, since you seem to _need_ a crutch so bad, here! _Catch!_ " Jarod snarled tossing the cane to him. Pinch barely had time to respond and get his pained hands up to grab the bar coming at his head. The impact was still surprising, but he was shocked when the weight of the cane settled in his hands and actually caused him to be overbalanced.

     But Jarod didn't give him time to recover. The journeyman spun on his good leg, bending at the knee, and brought his braced right leg out to sweep Pinch's feet out from beneath him.

     Pinch hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him. Jarod grabbed the dropped cane and levered himself back upright as Pinch rolled over on his back trying to catch his breath. There was a puzzling sound of metal scraping metal and Pinch suddenly found himself staring at the sharp tip of a sword held at his throat while the heavy end of the cane pressed on his chest.

     _Where did_ that _come from?_ Pinch wondered in shock.

     "I told you: your mind is the _only_ weapon you have," Jarod growled. "Anything else is _just a crutch_!"

     "Hold up there!" a voice called out and the sound of people running came to Pinch's ears.

     Jarod grinned sarcastically down at him and pulled the blade and cane away. Pinch then saw how the sword was hidden in the cane as Jarod sheathed the sword.

     "Just a crutch," Jarod repeated with an amused voice. Then he looked at who was approaching and his scowl reappeared.

     "Master Traller!" Jarod greeted. "You're looking--rather--well."

     "Jarod!" Tuck exclaimed.

     Pinch got to his feet and saw that Sebell had accompanied Tuck.

     "Jarod! What happened to you?" Tuck asked astonished.

     "Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing," Jarod muttered. "I got caught in a rock slide relaying a message from Bitra. I only just left Nabol to come here. I heard someone had bested you. You're looking--better than I expected."

     "It's a long story. Now what's going on here?" Tuck demanded.

     "Just a demonstration," Jarod replied as Pinch retrieved his knives. "I see you're still emphasizing blades over brains. I wondered when someone would teach you different--but I would've expected a few more scars," Jarod finished peering closely at his master. Tuck began to chuckle.

     "And I'd have to say you were right!" Tuck laughed. "Are you okay, Pinch?" he inquired.

     "Yeah," Pinch said wincing. "Just some nasty bruises. Nearly broke my hand, though."

     "In a real fight, it'd be more than just a broken hand," Jarod said with seriousness but all traces of animosity were gone.

     "I'll keep that in mind," Pinch said.

     "Come on inside," Tuck said. "Sorry about any trouble, Sebell."

     "I'd prefer that discipline not get tossed in the midden whenever Robinton is away," Sebell said. "And journeymen dueling is not the lesson we want spread."

     "I fully understand," Jarod gravely said with a bow.

 

     "...I have my own short cuts," Jarod was explaining to Pinch as they entered Sebell's office. "That's why you missed me on the trails."

     "I bet those 'short cuts' weren't too easy with that leg busted," Pinch observed.

     "Yeah," Jarod agreed with a snap. "But then, level ground's not all that pleasant, either, anymore. But they still got me here quicker." He suddenly stopped and stared at some of the fire-lizards in the room.

     "Uh--I knew about the occasional white, but I didn't think these things came in gray," he muttered with a puzzled expression.

     "Those are Menolly's," Sebell said as he came in the office. "She and the MasterHarper are missing."

     "Missing?" Jarod exclaimed. "I heard the MasterHarper was away, but not that he was missing!" He looked at Tuck. "Is this a new plague? Everyone's going missing now?"

     "Robinton and Menolly were lost in a storm," Sebell replied with a sigh. "Brownie and the others say Menolly's still alive, but can't find her."

     "Then what about the MasterHarper?" Jarod asked.

     "Zair's with him, if they're still alive," Pinch spoke up when Sebell couldn't reply.

     "I see," Jarod said, nodding. He looked at Tuck expectantly.

     "I'm not sure what I can tell you about what happened to me," Tuck said scratching his head. "There were these individuals that showed up a couple sevendays ago. Ryuu seems to be their leader."

     "Yeah, I saw their likenesses in the stations," Jarod said.

     "They claim to be searching for a missing relative, a girl that can hear dragons."

     "Isn't that who Thella's looking for?" Jarod asked. "Someone named Aramina?" Tuck nodded.

     "Ryuu said he didn't know if it was Aramina he was looking for," Sebell cut in. "But evidently, he and Puma did run into Thella. Nearest we can determine Ryuu's two other accomplices were tailing Master Tuck who was following Ryuu and Puma. They all ran into Thella. Tuck here, said Ryuu was hurt, and that's when a gold dragon showed up."

     "And unfortunately, that's all I remember," Tuck said. "A few days ago, I found myself here."

     "We think the gold belongs to Ryuu," Sebell said. Jarod's eyes bugged out.

     " _WHAT?_ " he exclaimed. "Wh-wha-what does--what do the Weyrleaders say about _that_?"

     "They're understandably upset," Tuck muttered.

     "I would imagine!" Jarod said.

     "Not the least of which, another of Ryuu's accomplices seems to have impressed a bronze dragon," Pinch added.

     "I see," Jarod muttered. He leaned back into his chair with a brooding expression. After a few minutes of silence, Tuck noticed Jarod's look.

     "Jarod? Is something bothering you?" he asked. Jarod looked up in surprise.

     "Uh--oh, just this," he muttered gesturing to his leg. "Guess I'm out of the running to be a Master."

     "Well, you've always said your brain is the only weapon to count on," Tuck grimly told him. Jarod looked ready to say something then thought better to keep his mouth closed.

     "It's just at the moment, I can't think of another option," Jarod finally responded.

     "You know, Tuck and I were just talking about a joint craft project that Robinton's been supporting," Sebell spoke up. "Now far be it for me to tell Master Tuck how to apportion his resources, but..."

     "Actually, I had been thinking of assigning Pinch," Tuck said. "However, this just might work out better for everyone if you go, Jarod."

     Jarod looked up, obviously intrigued.

 

At the cove:

     Menolly and Robinton spent the remainder of their evening making whatever repairs they could to their battered vessel. Menolly patched the torn sail as best as she was able to, and then discovered a fracture halfway down the length of the boom. All she could do about that was wrap it with several lines and trust it to hold. As Robinton aided her in that repair, she watched him nervously, fretting over what the coarse rope was doing to his hands. Hadn't she warned him about just that?

     "I hope that's enough," Menolly said when they finished that task. "Let's just hope we don't get any more bad weather."

     "I'd love to stay a while and explore, but we've got to get back as soon as possible," Robinton told her, turning his gaze from the magnificent mountain in the southeast to the north, as if trying to spot the Northern continent over the horizon. "I'm concerned about what Ryuu might be up to."

     Menolly nodded in agreement, worried about both Sebell and Jaxom, with whom Ryuu had shown such inordinate interest.

     The two harpers made a late dinner of the succulent fruits they'd collected earlier in the day, while their fire-lizards splashed about in the water, occasionally surfacing with a yellowtail for their own meals. Menolly tried to entice her fire-lizards to relinquish some of their catch, but they were reluctant. Robinton expressed sympathy for her failure. Zair was equally reluctant, but the Harper's bronze did go fishing again after he finished and brought them one small fish, which they had to share.

     "Sometimes they can be so helpful," Menolly laughed when Robinton commented on it. "Other times, they can be so greedy. Even so, I still love them!" She reached out to Beauty, who sniffed suspiciously at her hand. But then, after Beauty finally determined that her mistress had no more aspirations on her catch, she allowed Menolly to stroke her.

     "There are certainly worse places to get shipwrecked," Menolly commented to no one in particular as she surveyed her surroundings, though her gaze kept going back to that perfectly symmetrical mountain standing guard over the cove.

     Even as the sky over their heads began to darken, she noted that the mountain was still cast in the brilliant reds and golds of the setting sun.

     As the stars came out, Menolly grew concerned again. If they were too far west, as she suspected they might be, the Dawn Sisters might not even be visible from here. She'd heard that Tillek fishermen never saw them.

     Still she scanned the horizon, until she noticed Robinton facing toward the north, staring almost directly upward, with an uncertain expression. Menolly followed his gaze and saw the three brilliant points of light, far higher in the sky than she had ever seen them before.

     "That storm must've blown us beyond Benden!" Menolly exclaimed. "I would've thought for sure it had pushed us westward, but instead, we've gone east!"

     "How long will it take to get back?" Robinton asked, taking another look at that magnificent mountain beyond the semi-circular cove, only the peak of which was still illuminated.

     "I'm not sure," she said cautiously. "We can save time by taking the Southern Current, but we'll need supplies and water fairly often. I hope you don't mind a steady diet of fruit, but we might be able to get an occasional fish if we can wrestle any away from Zair and the others," Menolly added, trying to sound upbeat. Robinton rewarded her effort with a grin.

     She could tell that he was worried about her, but she couldn't help feeling depressed over the loss of the devices that they'd risked their lives to retrieve. But what really frightened her, more than the thought of being lost on the far side of Pern, was the thought of Ryuu invading their cabin!

     _It_ had _to be Ryuu!_ She was certain of that. Ryuu and that gold dragon of his! It was the only thing that made sense, especially if he was from the future. There was no way anyone else could have even known about the devices, let alone be able to steal them from the skiff. _At least_ , she thought maliciously, _that meant she and Robinton were getting back. How else could Ryuu have known where and when to come? And next time she encountered Ryuu..._

     "I wonder if it's safe to send Zair with a message," Robinton mused, breaking Menolly's thoughts.

     "I don't know," Menolly shuddered, once again concerned for her mentor. "I wouldn't recommend it. Remember during the storm, Poll said he couldn't go _between_? And the others had been saying something ridiculous about being stuck _half-way between_!"

     "Zair says he's alright now," Robinton muttered.

     "Please, Masterharper," Menolly begged. "If something made them sick that they couldn't jump, we shouldn't stress them. I know they say they're okay, but I think it's prudent to restrict them until we can get a dragonhealer to look at them."

     "True," Robinton said, frowning. Then he smiled. "Sometimes, you can be wiser than me!" he said, startling her. "When I think back to when Zair was missing..."

     _Not missing!_ Zair screeched. _With Not-Ryuu! Music! Half-way_ between _!_

     _NOTHING is_ BETWEEN _!_ Beauty screamed.

     "See? There they go again!" Menolly pointed out as she tried to soothe her queen.

     "Music?" Robinton inquired of Zair, trying to understand his nonsensical message. "What music?"

     Suddenly, Zair started singing, and instantly Beauty, Rocky, and Diver joined in, with what Ryuu would've considered a passable rendition of Yanni's "Standing in Motion." The two harpers and Poll started at them in stunned amazement.

     "Where on Pern did they learn _that_?" Menolly exclaimed.

     After about a minute, Poll experimentally tried to join them, but that only resulted in an argument as the four fire-lizards stopped their singing to yell at him for being out of tempo, off tune, and obviously not knowing the music.

     "I think maybe you're right, Menolly," Robinton's baritone voice rose to cut through the high screeching going on about their heads. "It wouldn't be a good time to send them with their minds scrambled like this!" The five fire-lizards paused to glare at him for a moment before resuming their argument.

     Menolly was about to call her four to order when a sea breeze caused her to shiver unexpectedly. She ducked into the cabin for a scarf to tie about her head, though the escape from the fire-lizards' bickering brought a welcome sigh of relief. Her sigh of relief turned into a gasp of horror when her foot splashed into cold water. The floor of the cabin was nearly a hand deep underwater!

     "MasterHarper!" she screamed. "We're taking on water!" Menolly ducked around the startled harper and ran to the keel-well, an odd structure built onto the fore of the mast. She climbed up one side using the built-in ladder and began cranking on a pedal gear with her hands.

     "What do I do?" Robinton asked. At least the fire-lizards stopped their arguing, but Menolly wondered if the panicked screams were any improvement.

     "Pull up the anchor, and then help me crank up the keel!" she said furiously working the gear. "We have to get the boat to shore before we sink!"

     "I always wondered what this narrow box was," Robinton said when he joined her on the other side and helped her turn the pedals. "I just never bothered to ask."

     "It's the keel-well," she explained a little out of breath.

     "The keel-well? For the keel? Right?"

     "The keel is what keeps the boat level," she told him. She tossed a glance up indicating the mast. "That makes us top-heavy, but the keel keeps us from tipping over. Only problem is, we've got to bring us in before we sink and we can't do that with the keel down, hence..."

     "The keel-well! Got it!" Robinton said beaming. Then his face showed his concern. "So what happened?"

     "The storm probably eroded the caulking," Menolly replied. "Once the seepage started, it just grew. Luckily, it didn't happen during the storm! _Or after we set sail!_ " she finished with a shudder.

     "Keep this up, and I'll get us moving," she said, leaving him so she could raise the sail just enough to catch the wind--she didn't want to bring too much weight up the mast--and turned the skiff about to bring it into the sandy beach.

     After they were done, Robinton stepped into the cabin while she worked the bailing pump.

     "How bad?" he asked.

     "I have to find where the leak is, first," Menolly told him. Then she paused to look up, and smiled. "Looks like we get to explore this place after all."


	14. Part 14

**Part 14:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.7, Fort Weyr:

     Lisa headed to the cold stores to get more meat for Voith. Her nervous glances about her environment allowed her to notice that several boys were bringing pails, two at a time, back to the barracks. She aimed for a clear route when someone shouting her name startled her. Fearfully looking about, she missed seeing who it was at first.

     "Lisa!" the call came again and when she turned, she saw it was J'gun, who was only a couple steps away. He had set down his buckets to wave at her.

     "J'gun!" Lisa breathed in relief that it wasn't Ryuu or any of his people.

     "Um, good morning," he started. Lisa thought it odd that the usually confident young rogue suddenly seemed as nervous as she often felt. "How's Voith?" he fumbled.

     "Growing."

     Lisa deliberately kept her answers short, as she didn't wish any social entanglements that might compromise her need to quickly disappear. But she felt too sorry for him to just give him the clear rebuff and be done with it. Instead of getting the hint, however, it seemed to her that J'gun was putting even more efforts to keep the conversations going. She watched him nervously swallow. Evidently, he was trying to think of something to say that would get her to say more than three words per encounter.

     "Yeah, don't I know it!" he said with a laugh. "Achorrath's up to here, now," he said holding his hand just below his sternum.

     _J'gun! I'm hungry!_ Lisa heard the dragon's cry, and managed to keep her face impassive even as J'gun's expression turned comical.

     "Oh, fardles! Gotta go!" J'gun exclaimed, grabbing his meat pails. They swung wildly in his hands as he hurried off.

     "I guess he didn't succeed in this encounter either. But what else can we do?" Lisa asked with a helpless shrug as he passed out of earshot, shyly smiling at the attentions he was trying to attract her with. Such a nice young man, just beginning his life. What hope was there for him with the likes of her? She could never give him children, never...

     _Lisa! What's taking you so long?_

     "Coming, dearest," she sighed, grinning as she got her own pails. She knew dragon physiology better than most healers trained on them, knew their voracious appetites first hand, having heard so many countless generations of them. Nothing new, but that it's her _own_ dragon now!

 

At the cove:

     "You want the good news or bad news first?" Menolly asked when her head broke the surface.

     "Bad news," Robinton finally said after taking several moments to think about that.

     "This thing's never going to sail again!"

     She was only able to hold her serious expression for a second before she burst out laughing. "Just kidding!" she yelled. She just couldn't resist, and the shocked look on his face was priceless.

     "Actually, we're in luck," she said as she climbed the rope ladder over the side. "The cracks are only where the keel-well joins the hull. The problem is finding something to use as caulking."

     "What if I had asked for the good news first," Robinton inquired.

     "I would've said the same!" she laughed. The MasterHarper burst out with guffaws at how cleverly she had done him.

     _Yes, this beach would be a marvelous place to be stranded!_ he considered. Luscious fruit trees were just a few paces away. The warm sun and water eased the aches in his bones that had become an increasing nuisance of late. And that view of that distant cone-shaped mountain, so perfectly along the centerline (a word he had learned on this trip) of the cove! It stood, a marvelous shade of blue-green with a light blue covering at the top, overlooking the whole area. He wondered about what the view must be like from up there.

     Their fire-lizards were still a little nervous about something in the jungle, but neither he nor Menolly had seen any sign of predators except for a wherry harassing some of the local fire-lizards.

     "I think I can use some of the grasses to mash into the cracks," Menolly said, sobering up from their mirth. "It won't be a perfect fix, but it will slow down the leaking. I'm concerned about it washing out as we sail. We should take a few bundles of the grass along with us to re-patch as we need it."

     "Is there anything I can do to help?" Robinton asked.

     "No," she yawned to catch her breath. "I have to dig a little more sand out of the trench so I can work under there."

     "I feel I should be doing something..." Robinton began.

     "Honestly, Master Robinton, I've got this under control," Menolly said, hoping she didn't sound too testy. "You should take the time to explore, if that's what you want. Take the gang with you to scare away any predators that might be about. The silly things--ranting on about shadowdragons and shadowfelines!"

 

Fort Weyr:

     A steadily increasing tap-tap sound caused Wansor to look up to see a young man with neatly trimmed blonde-hair walking toward him using a cane. He wore the faded patch of an apprentice harper and a slightly newer patch of a journeyman runner. His right leg was stiff, which accounted for him using the cane.

     "Good evening, Master Wansor," he greeted with tight set lips. "I was told to report to you. My name's Jarod."

     "You're here to help with the starwatching?" Wansor asked.

     Jarod's grim set of his mouth broke into an amused grin.

     "I am, today!" he laughed.

 

At the cove:

     Robinton lost track of the fire-lizards as he entered the jungle. But they had fanned out to form an arc several dragonlengths distant with Zair at one end to the right side of the cove and Beauty at the other end on the left. Poll, Rocky, and Diver were deeper into the foliage. Robinton could only get a few steps into the trees before the going got too rough for him, so he turned toward the left and meandered along the beach. As he traveled, he picked more redfruit, and some more of that tantalizing yellow fruit they had yesterday, and placed them in a sack he carried.

     A sleek black feline form followed a few dozen meters behind Zair. Panthera was keeping them under observation and trying not to be seen. However, with Zair properly exploring like a scout should, it was inevitable they would meet.

     Zair's scream and his attempt to fly off to warn Robinton were both cut off when the monitor grabbed the bronze in a tractor beam.

     "Urk!" Zair vocally exclaimed.

     Robinton was unaware of the drama behind him, when suddenly Beauty came flying at him, screaming for him to get back to the boat. She flew on to assist Zair.

     She arrived to see Zair still struggling to get free of nothing and her bronzes dive-bombing at the large feline. However, some invisible barrier was keeping them from reaching the creature. Angered, she disobeyed Menolly's order to not jump and popped in right above the feline's neck. Instantly, she sunk her claws into the animal's hide, hoping to drive it off. Instead, the creature merely snorted a hiss.

     "Will you guys knock it off?" Panthera snarled. Startled, Beauty let go and jumped out to where the other bronzes were.

     _It SPEAKS!_ she screamed.

     _What say?_ Poll asked, pausing in another futile dive.

     _Don't know!_ Beauty responded rather testily. _Human sounds! No thoughts!_

     _Is this better?_ Panthera asked. All the fire-lizards, including Zair, stopped their screaming and hovered there in stunned silence, staring at the large black feline.

     _Sounds like Ryuu!_ Diver exclaimed.

     _I'm_ better _than Ryuu,_ the feline sent, partly snarling her lip to show one long canine tooth.

     _How?_ Rocky asked, puzzled that the shadowcat could speak to them.

     _My builders were telepathic_ DRAGONS _,_ Panthera told them. _Of course, they built me with the circuitry to communicate on this level._ She gently lowered the beam to set Zair on the ground before releasing him. _I wanted to avoid just such a disturbance! Thanks a lot!_ Panthera finished sarcastically. She laid down to contemplate the natives. _We need not have alarmed the human. I was keeping the area clear of danger for you. So far, the only pest has been a native predatory avian floating about here. And then there are_ you five!

     _Here it comes again,_ the feline remarked as her extended sonar tracked the wherry's progress through the thick jungle canopy, _no doubt looking for easy prey._ Panthera shifted her gaze back down to the natives just as she detected the creature arrowing into the clearing, and the large cat quickly looked up again as her eyes flared with green light. Twin emerald beams of coherent light lanced out to strike the wherry in the head, killing it instantly. Zair and the others barely had time to flap themselves out of the way before the plummeting avian crashed to the ground in front of the black leopard.

     _Scratch_ one _native pest,_ Panthera muttered as she slowly stood to walk away. _Only question is, what can be done about the other five?_ Her tail swept the ground as she departed. Then the fire-lizards were astonished as the panther faded from sight before the jungle could conceal her. Bon Appetíte _!_ they heard as a parting shot.

     _Shadowcat!_ Zair exclaimed.

     Just then, Menolly and Robinton burst through the foliage with long knives at the ready. Their arrival startled Rocky and Zair who were sniffing at the carcass.

     "Wow!" Menolly exclaimed. "That's a big one! No wonder they got you out of here!"

     "Did you guys flame him?" Robinton asked astonished. The fire-lizards all looked at each other.

     _Not us!_ Zair responded truthfully.

     "You guys have any problems?" Menolly asked, noting their eyes still whirled with flecks of yellow and white.

     _Nothing is_ between _!_ Beauty finally announced, lifting up to assume her normal purchase. Her eyes quickly returned to her normal happy colors, as did all the other fire-lizards'.

     "It must've been what was frightening them," Robinton surmised.

     _Something like that!_ Rocky told his mistress.

     "Well you guys deserve a big treat!" Robinton praised them. "That's quite a kill! But if you didn't flame it, who did?"

     _Another flamed!_ Beauty said. _Left for us!_ Menolly passed the message to Robinton.

     "Well, you tell whoever it was, thank you!" Robinton said to the queen. "My word!" he exclaimed. "This thing's head is burned to a crisp!"

     Panthera watched them haul the wherry off from the hidden shelter of a long-abandoned lean-to.

 

Fort Weyr:

     Sherri helped Brekke with the last of the recuperating dragons from that bad Fall and a couple of minor injuries from a more recent fight. While she worked, she looked about the Weyr in confusion, trying to spot Ryuu. She figured he must have some sort of disguise to keep the colonists from grabbing him.

     As they worked together, Brekke told her how the white dragon had chased Ryuu, thinking the dragon was a female gold Ryuu had Impressed. How the dragon had savaged Thella's raiders (Sherri's shudder to that was genuine) and then how the gold dragon had turned on Ruth. It was no surprise that Ryuu was now considered a fugitive. These people had no idea what the reality of the situation was, but they still wanted his head on a plate.

     She shook her head in amazement, thinking back on their history. Ryuu had always ended up getting the authorities to chase him for something or another. But somehow, he'd always been the one to set the charges against him, run, all the while clearly helping them only to slip away, leaving them all baffled.

     Sherri grinned when she remembered how _she_ was once one of those chasing him, one of the few times he wasn't orchestrating the pursuit, and he'd almost been caught. But his reference to Ancalagon the Black made her especially nervous. It was an identity he had created back when she was hunting him. He used it to turn the tables on her and it nearly scared her to death when he captured her and the Federation starship crew sent to hunt him.

     _Leave it to Ryuu to find some new way to twist this game about to fit his rules,_ she thought returning to her work grinning.

     "You seem in good spirits," Brekke observed as they cleaned up for the day.

     "Just remembering some adventures from my youth," Sherri said, blushing. "Or I should say, 'misadventures'," she added with a grin.

     "Want to share?" Brekke inquired.

     "I don't know if I should," Sherri said with a grimace. Brekke nodded understandingly, but Sherri's eyes lit up with mischievousness. "Oh, what the hell? Why not?"

 

     Ryuu got some Terran originated vegetables and meats to pass the time as he sat in the cafeteria and observed the goings on. He spotted Sherri and the Healer colonist with the woman's native when they entered and took a table some distance away. He didn't pay them much mind after they started their conversation as he kept his eyes on the movements of the inhabitants.

     _This should work out just fine,_ he thought with a satisfied sigh.

     He spotted their quarry just as he stood to take his tray back to the cooks and quickly averted his eyes after a short wordless greeting.

     _Perfect,_ he thought grimacing.

 

     "Well, I started to hunt him down for causing me so much trouble," Lisa overheard Sherri saying to Brekke when she sat at her own table to eat her dinner.

     "I found a friend to help me, and eventually we found him," Sherri continued. "Only it turns out, it was all just a big misunderstanding. I finally discovered he was my cousin, but he wasn't responsible! It was an old Uncle in the Hold! It was supposed to be a gift, but I never appreciated it. After awhile, I finally did appreciate it, but I regret the lost time spent hunting him down."

     "Oh, that's so sad, but funny, too!" Brekke exclaimed. Sherri glanced over and saw Lisa sitting nearby.

     "Oh! Lisa! Congratulations!" Sherri greeted. "I saw your Impression to Voith the other day."

     "Thank you," Lisa murmured in embarrassment. Lisa worried about interacting with people, as it was very rude for her to keep searching for her pursuers when someone was speaking with her.

     "So what's it like to Impress?" Sherri anxiously asked surprising the other two women. But she needed to learn as much about the care and rearing of the creatures just as she needed to develop that bond with Lisa.

     "I--I'm...not sure how--to describe it," Lisa replied with a gulp.

     "I'm afraid she's too new to analyze it," Brekke shyly stepped in. "Impression--is--like having a mirror of yourself touching your mind. Wirenth," she paused to push down her loss, "was the most precious thing in my life. And now Berd is," she added, giving her bronze a gentle caress.

     They continued well into the night until Lisa had to excuse herself to return to Voith in her weyr.


	15. Part 15

**Part 15:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.8, at the cove:

     _Damn this stuff!_ Menolly fumed, frustrated that the grass wouldn't fit into the cracks. _Scorch it! Better yet, Let Thread Have It!_ She slammed the three-bladed grass with the side of her knife. And her efforts had been so successful earlier this morning. She couldn't understand why it wasn't fitting in properly anymore.

     She slammed the grass again, cursing out loud this time, only to realize no words came out of her mouth. Only bubbles.

     _This can't be good!_ she suddenly worried, realizing she needed to breathe and she couldn't do so here.

     She gasped as she broke the surface.

     "Menolly!" Robinton yelled when he saw her.

     " _WHAT?_ " she snapped at him. Her response startled him.

     "Oh, I was afraid of that," Robinton muttered. "Our bronzes are blooding their kills!" She stared at him incredulously.

     "Did you hear?" Robinton yelled. "They're blooding their kills!"

     "I heard!" Menolly snarled. "That's impossible! It's not time for Beauty!"

     "That's what I thought!" Robinton agreed.

     "There's another queen around here!" they both said together. Menolly looked about for the ladder to climb up, but it was gone.

     _Now why would he pull it up like that?_ she fumed.

     "What did you do with the sharding ladder?" she yelled.

     "It's on the other side," Robinton slowly and calmly said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. She felt her face suddenly grow hotter than the sandy beach. _She_ was on the wrong side!

     "Come on!" Robinton said reaching over the side. "I'll pull you up--HEY! Watch the knife!"

     "Sorry!" she meekly squeaked. She tossed the blade up on the deck behind the MasterHarper before taking his hands. _I'm going to be in BIG trouble if I ever survive this!_ she thought as she climbed up.

     Beauty was very much agitated. The queen wanted to land on Menolly's shoulder, but they were both too emotional to let it happen.

     "We've got to call them back!" Menolly told Robinton.

     "I don't know _how_!" the MasterHarper cried.

     "Rocky! Poll! Diver! Stop this!" Menolly yelled. She put all her anger into her thoughts, speaking directly to them, ordering them to back away from their kills.

     Defiant, her three bronzes hissed at her. Beauty added her own shrill demands. They faltered, but ignored her, too. Unable to order them all to behave, Menolly concentrated on one at a time.

     Poll screamed in rage as he was interrupted. He shook with a terrible savagery and went back to draining the blood from the fish he caught.

     Robinton was trying to follow her example, verbally ordering Zair away from his kill. But not knowing how to force his will onto his bronze, he wasn't having much success restraining Zair. He reached out to physically pull him away and barely missed getting his hand sliced open. Even so, there was a long shallow cut for his trouble.

     "POLL!" Menolly growled through gritting teeth, sending him the order to back away. Poll let out a most hideous squawk as he shook his head. But he did step back one pace. He strained to return to his kill, but another command from his mistress forced him back another step.

     Just then, Rocky, Diver, and Zair all launched into the air, heading for shore. Beauty flew after them.

     "NO, BEAUTY!" Menolly screamed. The gold queen paused, and she suddenly knew it was too late to catch her bronzes. Dejected, she flew back to Menolly.

     "Oh, no!" Menolly said, staring after the departing fire-lizards.

     "We'd better get them inside," Robinton said. "And us, too."

     The prospect of their fire-lizards rising to fly a queen both thrilled and appalled Menolly. She did so dearly love Robinton, but she realized he _was_ the MasterHarper and it was much too presumptuous of her to have him in that manner. In addition, she had such a growing fondness for Sebell that she did not wish to sully their relationship.

     She could see from Robinton's face that he must have been having similar thoughts. His face showed such regret and concern as he gently but firmly embraced her with his arms. She didn't try to pull away from him. She couldn't.

     Her mind slipped out to be divided between her fire-lizards-- _No!_ Her _Dragons!_ Several other bronzes, browns, and even a few ambitious blues pursued the highly maneuverable queen! _SHE would be a fine catch!_

     They soared far and high, rising, swooping, dodging, all the while each trying to be the lucky chosen to catch her. The three blues and two of the browns were quickly left behind. Then the last brown and two other bronzes couldn't keep up. Soon, now! There were only three other bronzes left! _Or was it two?_ Menolly suddenly blinked in confusion.

     She couldn't tell how long it was since the fire-lizards blooded when she felt Robinton release his hold on her.

     "No!" she whimpered, clenching at his shirt.

     "It's okay, Menolly," Robinton told her, his voice actually breaking. "Zair has dropped out."

     "No!" Menolly repeated that same desperate cry, holding on even more fiercely. She looked up at him, feeling the tears sliding down her cheeks. She saw his tear-stained face staring uncomprehendingly at her. "Diver and Rocky are still--!"

     "Oh--oh--my poor child!" Robinton wept, softly stroking her hair. He gently enfolded her in his arms again and waited.

     Her mind slipped out again to rejoin her two bronze dragons--she _was_ Diver--she _was_ Rocky! There was one other! The three of them were getting exhausted, but then, so was that enticing queen! Soon, now!

     Desperate to escape, the queen doubled back, heading straight for the three bronze dragons to force them to veer away and have to work to catch up to her again. One bronze surged ahead and just before impact, executed a backflip...

     _NO!_ Rocky and Diver both screamed, outraged.

     Menolly suddenly found herself back in the cabin, shuddering in her disappointment. Then she recalled where she was, what she was doing, and whom she was with. Morbidly embarrassed, she hastily released the MasterHarper, the so very kind and gentle MasterHarper.

     "It-it's over," she murmured, not wanting to let him see her like this.

     "It's okay, Menolly," Robinton told her as he sat down beside her, one arm gently comforting her. He handed her a handkerchief he somehow found for her. She belatedly realized his voice was back to normal as she wiped away her tears and blew her nose.

     "For such little things, they sure have a big impact," he sighed. The statement made her cough out her sobbing into laughter. "And here I thought I was too old to be affected by such things as dragons rising. But a little fire-lizard--"

     "But those were other people's dragons," Menolly softly interrupted, having had a little experience with Beauty's flights. "Zair is your dragon." She grinned at his start. "Yes, they _are_ our little dragons when they rise. F'nor's told me in the past it's the same for him when Grall flies Berd as when Canth flew."

     "Normally, a little wine would go with an occasion like this, but--" Robinton trailed off with a helpless show of his hands. He softly stepped through the water that had seeped in while they were occupied and climbed the ladder to the outer deck so she could have some privacy.

     Menolly curled up in her bunk and hugged herself forlornly. _It had been so close! So close! So awfully close!_

     "Oh, those two are so going to get it when they return," she muttered. Beauty, having stayed with them in the cabin, echoed her statement. Poll cringed at his queen's anger. Menolly then blinked in confusion and stared at her queen. _Was Beauty echoing my thoughts? Or was it the other way around?_

     Beauty never bothered to respond.

 

Fort Weyr:

     The ledge leading to the starstones afforded Jarod an opportune place to dismount Serith, T'ledon's blue as the dragonrider uncovered the distance viewer.

     "This is where you'll be working at night," T'ledon said when Jarod joined him. "The distance viewer is set up and ready to use. This cable controls the horizontal motion for tracking the stars over the hours, and this one for moving up and down with respect to the North Pole."

     "Azimuth and declination! Got it!" Jarod nodded. "What do these do?" he asked, pointing to where the distance viewer sat on its platform.

     "Don't touch that," T'ledon warned. "Master Wansor set that for our latitude and longitude. It's important we don't adjust that, otherwise all our readings will be wrong."

     "I see," Jarod said understanding. He turned about to look out over the Weyr. "Quite a view."

     "Unfortunately, not much to see of it when you're up here for star watching," the blue rider laughed. "Just watch your step."

     "Always do," Jarod said, slapping his leg. "That's why I missed seeing the rock that did this."

 

     "Have you seen Brekke?" Sherri heard someone ask her while she treated a dragon for minor wounds received when a wherry had fought back. She was surprised to see Lisa standing there.

     "Oh, I'm sorry," Sherri said. "She left with F'nor to go back to Benden. Is there something the matter with Voith?"

     "I'm just needing to get more oil for her," Lisa said.

     "No problem," Sherri replied as she wiped her hands of the numbweed. "I'm all finished with Greth," she told her rider.

     "Next time, pick a wherry that's not going to object to being eaten!" the green rider told his dragon as Sherri and Lisa departed.

     "So, how's she doing?" Sherri politely inquired.

     "Very well, thank you," Lisa replied. "Still growing," she added, rolling her eyes.

     "I'm sure she'll grow into a fine specimen," Sherri said.

     "Yes," Lisa agreed.

     "Here we are," Sherri said as they entered the cavern where the supplies were stored.

     "Do you mind if I see her?" Sherri asked as Lisa was about to depart.

     "Of--of course," Lisa hesitated. "We're over this way." She fervently hoped her monitor would detect the other woman coming and get out of sight. Just to be on the safe side, she came up with the idea of announcing her arrival.

     "Voith? Voith! Are you awake? There's someone here to see you!" Lisa called out.

     The gold dragon watched the odd tunnel-snake quickly slither away before responding.

     _I am awake,_ the queen replied.

     "My word! She's gorgeous!" Sherri exclaimed when her eyes adjusted to the dim cavern. "May I?" Sherri asked, gesturing to approach. Lisa thought about it then nodded before proceeding to apply the oil.

     "She's grown so fast already," Sherri whispered in awe as she caressed the gold muzzle. "You like this?" she asked Voith reaching up to scratch her eyeridges.

     _Yes-s-s,_ Voith responded. _My back also itches--ah, Lisa has it already! O-o-oooh, ye-es-s-s-s! Tha-at's so-o-o goo-oo-ood rrri-ght therrre!_ she said angling her head to receive more of Sherri's attention. _You-u'rrre on-ne of the Oth-therrrsss. You-u'rrre ni-s-s-s-e!_

     "Well, now you've gone and done it!" Lisa laughed. "You've made her happy!"

     "They are so marvelous, aren't they?" Sherri asked. "It's been awhile since I've been able to touch one that wasn't in pain, first!"

     "Yes, that was a very horrid Fall!" Lisa said, shuddering at the memory. "Sudeth was so badly hurt! I saw they finally got him to his weyr."

     "He's healing," Sherri nodded in relief. "But it will be months before he's fully recovered.

     "You know, I think this is the first I've gotten a good look at Voith," Sherri commented, using her free hand to stroke her neck. "All the other hatchlings have had some issue or another that needed Brekke or me. So what are you doing right?"

     "Just lucky, I guess," Lisa shrugged. Ducking down to pretend to take care of another patch, she hid her wince.

     _Clumsy oaf!_ she cursed herself. _Of course you're not supposed to know that much about how to raise dragons! IDIOT!_

     _Lisa? Are you okay?_ Voith turned to look back on her rider.

     "Yes, love," Lisa sighed. _I've just been a fool, that's all._

     _You've been very good to me,_ Voith told her with some concern. _I've been very fortunate to Impress someone as smart as you._

     _Smart, yes,_ Lisa acknowledged. _Wise, no!_

     "I should be going to get something to eat," Sherri reluctantly said. "It's been good meeting you, Voith."

     _Sherri's very nice!_ Voith said as she left.

     "Yes," Lisa agreed. "She was a big help along with Brekke." Then Lisa suddenly got a cold shiver of fear. _A big help with Brekke! And Sudeth_ shouldn't _have recovered like that unless he had been helped by some alien influence!_

     But as she thought more, something didn't fit: _Sudeth said a_ man _had helped him! Not a woman!_

     "I think we should be cautious with this Sherri," Lisa muttered.

     _Why?_ Voith asked astonished. _She's done nothing bad to us! And she's helped so many dragons! Why do you suddenly fear her?_

     "You suspect her of being one of Ryuu's people?" the monitor asked as she returned from hiding.

     "I don't know," Lisa said, hugging herself in fear. "It was clear that Ryuu stepped in to help Sudeth, but he quickly left. And it looks like he continued on with whatever made him think I had gone to Telgar. But nothing about that makes any sense."

     "Perhaps it was that he heard the dragon's pain, just as you can," her monitor suggested. "There was no signal from the alien robot when I destroyed it. If he had gotten such a signal, he would be here hunting us! He appears to have come and left, as if to take care of an irritant."

     "Perhaps," Lisa muttered uncertain. "But then, the question remains: what made him think I went to Telgar?"


	16. Part 16

**Part 16:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.9, Fort Weyr:

     Just after three in the morning, Sherri got up from her bed and left the infirmary cave, passing through the living caverns and wandered out into the bowl.

     Once there, she looked about to make sure no one, or more importantly, _nothing_ followed her. She could sense only the brown watch dragon and the white were awake up by the starstones. She knew they saw her, but paid her little mind beyond a mild curiosity.

     _It can't be helped,_ she thought. She focused on making this the most private sending she could, even as she knew the creatures could still hear such messages.

     _Naga! Call me!_ she quickly sent, hoping Ryuu would recognize one of his old aliases and that it would be too short for the dragons to pay attention.

     _Can't,_ came the reply. _Monitors will hear._ ¿Dondé?

     _Triage,_ Sherri replied. So far, so good!

     _Wait there,_ Ryuu told her.

     _Even better!_ she thought to herself. He must be close by.

     A few minutes of nervous waiting was rewarded by her feeling a presence behind her. She turned to just make out a dark figure in the shadows.

     "It's me," Ryuu whispered. Sherri breathed a sigh of relief.

     "I-I'm a-afraid we've got a problem," Sherri said, worried how Ryuu might take the news. "I think Lisa suspects me."

     "She suspects everyone," Ryuu snorted.

     "I met with her in her weyr," Sherri explained. "I overheard part of a conversation between her and Voith. Of course, I could only hear her dragon's responses, but it's clear she now really suspects me because of what happened to Sudeth." Sherri recounted what she heard Voith tell her rider. Ryuu was silent for several moments after she finished.

     "You and Mike did the right thing by that dragon," Ryuu finally said. "I would've done the same! It can't be helped." He went silent for several more moments. Sherri waited, knowing he was considering the options.

     "This is what you do," Ryuu spoke out. "Make a big deal about the dragon's recovery. Tell everyone what a fantastic miracle it was. Make a lot of noise out of it, and try to do so in her presence."

     "What good will that do?" Sherri asked astonished.

     "Bring attention to you for one," Ryuu said.

     "I don't follow!" Sherri complained.

     "Bringing such attention to ourselves is the last thing we'd want," Ryuu pointed out. "Hunting her, that'd make us useless. By you throwing the question out to be investigated by the authorities, you'll actually divert any suspicion Lisa might have about you into looking for who really helped that dragon."

     "Maybe in some weird way, it just might work," Sherri muttered after thinking about it.

     "It should," Ryuu said. "She's running scared, for whatever reason. She knows we've got the technology to hunt her down and she's counting on us to rely solely on that to find her. She's going to be looking for anyone who stands out as not belonging here."

     "Ah! I get it!" Sherri said as it dawned on her. "And the people who _do_ belong here _really would_ make such a fuss!"

     "Exactly," Ryuu said. "Now I've got some plans in motion to set myself up to gain her trust, too. It'll take awhile, but as I understand it, these enhanced natives need a couple or three years to mature. So, we might as well take our time and do this right! Also, _Panthro_ is working on getting us some stuff that will help. He says it'll be about another week before it's ready. I'll see you then to deliver it."

     "Thanks! Good night, then," Sherri said.

     "Just be careful," Ryuu said as he departed.

     Sherri glanced up to the two dragons overlooking the bowl. With any luck, they would think this was just some typical late-night rendezvous between a man and a woman.

 

     _I cannot comprehend human Flying rituals,_ Sympath complained to Ruth. _Why do they perform such complicated maneuvers to hide their intentions? Why don't they just Fly when it's time?_

     _I've never figured it out, either,_ Ruth sighed, laying his head back down on his forelimbs.

     "Is something the matter, Ruth?" Jaxom asked, looking away from the distance viewer. He thought he heard disappointment in his dragon's breath.

     _No entertainment tonight,_ Ruth muttered.

     "I'm sorry you're so bored," Jaxom said, carefully moving on the darkened ledge to comfort his dragon. "It's kind of a boring activity for me, too. But if it helps us predict Thread, it's necessary. Besides, you can keep Sympath company. If there's anything more boring than watching the stars, it's being a watchdragon."

     _We were both disappointed,_ Ruth told him. _For a moment, it looked like there was going to be some entertainment._

     "Okay!" Jaxom laughed, going back to the distance viewer. "What you guys find interesting sometimes is beyond me."

     _Humans are often--unpredictable,_ Ruth tried to explain, looking up at Jaxom. His rider considered the assessment.

     "That's true," Jaxom absently agreed, peering through the eyepiece.

 

At the cove:

     Menolly's head broke the surface, and Robinton was concerned she was overdoing it as he listened to her gasping for breath.

     "How's it going?" he asked.

     "Almost there," Menolly said, climbing up the rope ladder. She sat down heavily on a bench to rest.

     "There's a lot less water seeping in," Robinton said, hoping the good news would encourage her to rest. She nodded gratefully for that.

     "It's getting harder to stuff the grass into the cracks," Menolly explained. She suddenly looked at him, noting the concern etched in his face. "Don't worry! I'm taking a break! Let me have some more of that roast wherry and I'll take a rest before going back down." Relief smoothed out some of his wrinkles.

     "Of course!" he said, grinning. He got up to get the last of the meat.

     "Now _that_ is obscene!" he heard her suddenly exclaim. Robinton looked back at her, and then to where she was staring. Their fire-lizards were playing some sort of complicated aerial game with a couple long stalks of grass.

     "How can they have so much energy? Especially after yesterday?" Menolly complained. Then she burst out in laughter at how Rocky must've violated some rule when he tried to yank a stalk away from Beauty and they all scolded at him for breaking it in half.

     "And I guess Beauty decided not to hold a grudge," Menolly chuckled. "Although, for a while, I wondered if I was going to have two shredded bronzes to piece back together!"

     "And they certainly seem to have gotten over their fright of what was in the jungle," Robinton added.

     "Yes," Menolly agreed. Then she frowned in confusion. "Rather strange, that. 'Shadowdragons'? 'Shadowfelines'? These guys know wherries, so why create those concepts?" All Robinton could do was shrug his shoulders.

     "Aside from F'nor's Grall, Brekke's Berd, and Mirrim's three, yours are the oldest," he said. "Maybe we just haven't seen the last of their developing imaginations. We do know there are substantial differences from the dragons, apart from size."

     "Perhaps you're right," Menolly sighed. She watched the antics of the fire-lizards for a bit more as Robinton carved the wherry, and their behavior infected her with a mischievous attitude.

     "Okay, what's the difference between the deck and overhead?" she popped the question when Robinton handed her the plate.

     "About that much," the MasterHarper quickly said, holding a thumb and finger apart symbolizing the thickness of the wood. She groaned, then noticed her four surrounding her with eyes flashing.

     "You guys just _had_ breakfast!" she exclaimed exasperated.

 

On board the _Panthro_ :

     The doors to the Bridge opened and Puma saw T'khill with his beast and Pardus quickly stepping through.

     "I'm taking the Conn," Pardus told her.

     "What?" Puma exclaimed. She looked in shock as T'khill took the helm.

     "Ryuu's orders," the black panther said leaping into the seat she just vacated. "Two disasters are hitting at once: Ch'les'tol debris are about to rain down on that ocean craft we worked so hard to rescue from the hurricane, and Phase Two of Ryuu's plan for getting Lisa's confidence needs to start."

     "Disaster is the correct word, when it comes to Ryuu," Puma said rolling her eyes. She took her station to monitor the sensors.

     "He wouldn't want it any other way," Pardus said, grinning to show his long teeth. "Aquila, stand by," Pardus instructed through the communications link to the transporter room. "You will coordinate all communications through _Panthro_. Also, transport may be a little rough. We're going to be low in the atmosphere and more than a third around the planet."

     "Understood," the golden eagle responded. "Initiating transport and activating cloak."

 

Fort Weyr:

     "Chrysaetos! Respond! Chrysaetos! This is Aquila! Respond! Chrysaetos, are you receiving? Respond!" Aquila soared above the Weyr, using the thermals as she followed the rim of the bowl. She was broadcasting on several different subspace frequencies, but getting no response to her calls. After sequencing through all subspace channels, she switched to the E-M bands, and still got no reply. She even started transmitting in the clear.

     " _Panthro_! Are you receiving?" Aquila finally changed her transmission.

     "Reception is at eighty-five percent," the ship responded. "Why are you transmitting using Amplitude Modulation on an EM band?"

     "Subspace distortions are severe at this regional capitol," Aquila said, boosting her transmission gain.

 

     "Mistress! Mistress!" the tunnel-snake called as Lisa brought Voith in from her bathing. "There is a hostile robot circling the Weyr scanning for us! It is not safe outside!"

     "Oh, My God!" she exclaimed. "Has it seen me?"

     "It does not appear so," her monitor reported. "It has been searching for its companion I destroyed. There has been no response from the one I fought."

 

     "There is no sign of Chrysaetos," Aquila reported. "This is his last known location."

     "Chrysaetos accompanied Ryuu when he went to aid some of the enhanced natives," _Panthro_ told the golden eagle. "We can only assume he accompanied Ryuu when he departed."

     "What is Ryuu's location?" Aquila demanded.

     "Unknown," Panthro responded. "He went to investigate a possible sighting of our target in another regional capitol to your Northeast. He is operating under radio silence to avoid any possible detection by the target's monitors. There was a report that a woman that could hear the enhanced natives was evading the authorities. Her identity was 'Aramina'. Repeat, Ryuu has gone to investigate. Your signal quality is only ninety-five percent."

     "I am over-modulating now!" Aquila said. "I cannot boost the gain any further at this frequency!

     "This is unacceptable! We have six crew and twelve monitors searching this entire planet for someone _who might not even be here!_ " Aquila complained. "There are dozens of worlds within a day's flight and we're staying here simply because Ryuu got one suspect blip on a known malfunctioning _hand_ scanner? All of our scans are useless beyond twenty-one meters! And now, we _can't even keep track of our own people!_ "

     "Those are Ryuu's orders," _Panthro_ responded.

     "Do you still have transport lock on me?" Aquila asked.

     "Affirmative."

     "Then transport me to Ryuu's last known location and I'll try tracking him and Chrysaetos from there!"

     "It has been nearly five days since I last had contact with Ryuu," _Panthro_ told her.

     "Then they could still be anywhere on this rock!" Aquila cursed. "Get me out of this God-forsaken subspace puke so I can at least try hunting _Ryuu_ down! We _do_ know, absolutely, _he's_ on this planet!"

 

     "The alien probe has been withdrawn, Mistress," the tunnel-snake reported.

     "Have we made an error destroying that robot?" Lisa worriedly asked. "If they find Ryuu and he tells them that thing didn't leave here with him, they'll be back!"

     _Do not worry, Lisa,_ Voith told her. _I am here! I will protect you!_

     "No Voith! You mustn't get involved!" Lisa tearfully hugged her dragon. "You've never seen Ryuu murder anybody! _I have!_ " She shuddered at the horrid memory. "That poor girl! Ryuu thinks Aramina is me! But I can't do anything to help her! Voith, I have to rely on you to help escape him!"

     _It--is too soon for me to fly with you,_ Voith said apologetically. _I cannot take you_ between _!_

     "Stay here, Mistress!" her monitor ordered. "I will return as soon as I confirm something."

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "We are in position five thousand horamters up-Fall above target," T'khill reported. "Cloaking field is operational and deflectors on full. Shall I engage weapons?"

     "Negative," Pardus responded. "They would see the discharge."

     "But some of the debris will find its way past us and threaten the craft," T'khill said, turning back to look at the large cat.

     "Panthera reports the natives are able to provide protection for their homes," Pardus explained. "Our aim is to prevent the creatures from being overly taxed defending their friends. Remember, there are only five of the natives available to protect the two colonists."

 

At the cove:

     Robinton woke at the lack of sound and a strong reek that wafted across his nose. He opened his eyes and instinctively looked to the east.

     "Menolly!" he shouted, reaching over to shake her awake.

     "YE-A-OW!" Menolly screamed, batting his arm away. She stared at the white handprint on her red shoulder. "Oh, SHELLS! _I'M SUN BURNED!_ "

     "Me, too!" Robinton said, belatedly looking at his own chest and stomach. "But we've got bigger worries!" he pointed.

     "THREAD?" she yelled in disbelief. "Oh, no! It's going to cut right through the mast and the boat!"

     "Zair and the others are already chewing," Robinton told her. "We've got to get under cover!"

     "MasterHarper! Get over the side!" Menolly cried. "The water's our only chance! And if we stay here, our fire-lizards will protect the boat!"

     "I just hope five lizards are enough!" he said, jumping into the water.

 

Fort Weyr:

     The tunnel-snake made her way through the labyrinth of the underground tunnels made mostly by living tunnel-snakes. It finally arrived at the location where it had fought an artificial entity modeled on a Terran avian species. As a precaution, she slowed her advance, sending out active scans, looking for any signs out of the ordinary.

     Since she had collapsed the ceiling on the hostile robot, there had been no emanations from it. She hoped her suspicions were not correct--it was too coincidental that the scout sent to look for the one she fought also had a profile of an eagle. Her passive motion detection sensors had been able to get an image even with the unit visibly cloaked.

     At two dragonlengths, her scans began to return an unusual signal, consistent with what she had detected before. She began digging, cautiously, in case her excavations allowed the hostile to escape.

     In time, she arrived at a cluster of shattered crystal--the same substance of which she was made, but without the amorphic flux that her, and possibly, the other robots' mysterious builders constructed them from.

     "So," she muttered, pulling back and dragging some of the shattered stuff with her. "This is what I will become when I die." It looked like so much quartz, but was a completely different substance with unusual properties useful for starship propulsion, newly discovered prior to their departure for the colony. DiLithium, she recalled it had been christened. Leaving the fragments, the tunnel-snake retraced her route to return to her Mistress.

 

At the cove:

     Menolly cautiously looked up over the side of the boat ready to drop back into the water at the instant she sighted Thread. To her relief, not only were Zair and her fire-lizards flaming the stuff, but also it looked like they had managed to recruit several dozen more locals to help. She dropped back down into the water and grinned at Robinton.

     "I think we're going to make it!" she said.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "It's about time!" Chrysaetos hissed at his female counterpart. "I was beginning to think you all had forgotten about me!"

     "Hardly," Aquila said, setting her wings to her back. "We had to wait until an appropriate time and equipment was ready."

     "Yes--I did detect something while I was in the matter-stream," Chrysaetos said, cocking his head. "Was that--?"

     "Your dead and shattered remains? That is correct," _Panthro_ spoke up. "We can only surmise that Lisa's monitors are at this moment pissing on your grave."

     "Well," the male golden eagle said, flapping the dust and rock fragments from his wings before furling them along his body, "it's a good thing I don't suffer from claustrophobia, like Arye. Speaking of which, where is my mistress?"

     "She and Wolf are at the Telgar provincial capitol awaiting Ryuu's signal to start Phase Three of his plan to acquire Lisa's trust," Aquila told him.

     "Then tell Ryuu good luck!" Chrysaetos said, shaking his head to dislodge the dust from his feathers. "If she's anything like her monitors, Ryuu's going to need it!"

     "That was the reason for the subterfuge _Panthro_ and Aquila just staged," Pardus said as he and Panthera entered the room to join them. "There is one more segment of Ryuu's plan that we must prepare for."


	17. Part 17

**Part 17:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.10, at the cove:

     "I'm going to regret leaving this place," Robinton said, taking a last look at the cove, although he knew that magnificent mountain would still be visible for several hours more as they sailed away.

     "You mean that after having Ryuu show up and stealing those devices, our boat nearly sinking, and nearly being attacked by a wherry? You're going to miss wild queens stealing our fire-lizards? Getting sunburned? And _Thread_?" Menolly asked in mock horror. "After all that, I would think you'd be glad to get out of here!"

     "All except for the boat nearly sinking, and I'd prefer that happened someplace we could do something about it, like we were this time," Robinton countered. "As for the rest, all those could've happened anywhere. And don't forget, we can get Thread _everywhere_!" They both laughed. Then Robinton looked back again to that beautiful place one last time. "But I suspect that we can only get such a place like this-- _here!_ " he sadly added as the view finally shifted to hide that semicircular white-sanded beach.

     "I know what you mean," Menolly responded in a quiet voice. He turned to catch her staring up at that mountain.

     She continued to look back for several moments before she looked directly in his face and smiled. Then she shifted to face forward and worked to pilot the skiff. Robinton stole a few more minutes looking back before he, too, got busy helping her to sail.

     He had to catch his fingers from going to his chest to scratch at the sunburn beneath his shirt. It would be a couple of days before his skin healed enough to let him touch it without causing himself pain. By then, he would start peeling. He just hoped Zair wouldn't tease him about needing oil for patchy skin.

     He looked at the back of his left hand with the three long, thin brown lines that marked where Zair scratched him for foolishly trying to remove his blooding kill. Only good reflexes saved his hand from being slashed completely open, and possibly crippling his career.

     Zair crooned apologetically once more when the bronze fire-lizard noticed Robinton's attention.

     "No, Zair," Robinton quickly reassured his friend. "It was _my_ fault! I should never have tried to take it away from you like that! I see I have much to learn about you, and if I get a few scores, then so be it! And I should be glad to get them! But this will heal. In a sevenday, there probably won't even be a mark." He leaned his head to brush his cheek against the fire-lizard sitting on his shoulder. "I love you, Zair!"

 

Fort Weyr:

     "Are you okay?" J'gun asked, rushing to aid the journeyman using a cane. Several other weyrlings also came to aid him. The lad had a minor impact on the knee and barely got his plate to the table before falling to the ground, clenching his right leg just above the joint.

     The journeyman hissed a long string of curses through grinding teeth that lasted more than a minute, and J'gun didn't think the young man ever used the same word twice the whole time.

     "Hang on. We've sent for a healer," K'nebel reassured him.

     "I-I'll--be...alright," the journeyman gasped. J'gun winced in sympathy at how that must hurt. The journeyman's knuckles were white as his fingers dug into his thigh just above the knee.

     J'gun carefully examined the young man's oddly stiff leg and was surprised at finding a metal brace beneath the clothing.

     "What's this?" he asked.

     "Br-ace," the man answered. "Knee-ee-cap go-ot bust-ed. Healers--thought it might heal--so they didn't cut off the leg. Helped me make a brace. Oldive said it won't, though," he sighed, evidently the pain was becoming manageable for him.

     "I've got some numbweed!" a weyrling called as he rushed to the scene.

     "Won't do any good," the journeyman said, shaking his head. "The skin's not broken, so there's no way to get the numbweed into where the damage is."

     "Can't hurt," J'gun said, taking out his knife.

     "Careful!" the journeyman cringed.

     "I will," J'gun responded. He made a small slit in the pants leg, holding the fabric as far from the flesh as he could. "What's your name?"

     "Jar--ah!" Jarod exclaimed as J'gun applied the salve. "Jarod," Jarod finished with a sigh when some of the agony must have abated. J'gun felt sick as he realized how bad that knee was. No wonder Jarod said it wouldn't work. There wasn't any kneecap there! He agreed with Jarod's assessment--there would still be pain, even if the immediate bruising was numbed, the underlying tissues must still be very much awake.

     "Good job, J'gun," K'nebel said, appraising the work.

     "Thanks!" Jarod exclaimed. "Still hurts, but it's better! Almost-- _normal!_ " he choked at his own joke. They all helped him to sit at the bench that had caught him on his knee. S'fas moved his plate to another location on the table to make room.

     "That's--quite--a vocabulary, you've got there," J'gun remarked as most of the others returned to their seats.

     "Well, you get your kneecap blown off, and see if you don't come up with a few--new--expressive phrases," Jarod laughed.

     "What happened?" Sherri yelled as she rushed to the scene.

     "Caught my knee on the bench," Jarod grumbled. "Woke me up pretty quick!"

     "Good God!" Sherri whispered upon seeing the condition of the man's leg.

     _Careful!_ she suddenly heard Ryuu call to her. _I don't think they use that expression here._

     "Uh--is something wrong?" J'gun and Jarod both asked, looking at her in puzzlement. Their question snapped Sherri's attention back to them. As soon as she heard Ryuu's sending, she started to look all about her, nearly forgetting her patient.

     "N-no," Sherri stammered in confusion. "Thought I heard something. This leg is pretty bad."

     "That's what Master Oldive said," Jarod said. "All I know is, it hurts. A lot. And when I run into tables, benches, and the like, it hurts _quite a bit more!_ "

     "Well, I'd better get you to the Healercraft hall to see if you have done any more damage," Sherri said.

     "Shall I summon a rider?" K'nebel asked.

     "I'd rather not subject his knee to the cold of _between_ ," Sherri told him.

     "Well, then, there's a wagon train leaving for Fort Hold at midday," K'nebel suggested.

     "I see," Jarod said, sighing. "Well, I was supposed to have a few days off, anyhow."

 

Later, at Oldive's office:

     " _You_ again?" the Master exclaimed when he stepped out to see who had arrived.

     "With such acid charm and wit, how could I pass up another visit?" Jarod asked, glaring at him. They stared at each other for several moments, and Sherri began to worry if she had made a mistake when suddenly both Oldive and Jarod burst out laughing.

     Oldive quickly approached as if they were old friends and Sherri breathed a sigh of relief.

     "So what happened?" Oldive asked, getting to business. He cut the slit in the trouser leg to be longer both above and below the area of the joint.

     "Caught my knee on a bench during breakfast," Jarod explained.

     "BREAKFAST?" Oldive exclaimed. "WHAT ARE DOING WAITING SO LONG BEFORE COMING TO SEE ME?" Sherri was shocked at the volume that the seemingly nice MasterHealer used that she was speechless, and she wondered if her initial assessment was correct after all.

     "I was at the Weyr," Jarod quietly muttered after looking at her, evidently wondering why she didn't say anything.

     "Oh," Oldive meekly muttered. Jarod chuckled at that.

     "Got you!" he said.

     "Well, let's see how bad you messed up _this_ time," Oldive grumbled, checking the knee. "Hmm. Did the numbweed help?"

     "A little," Jarod replied. "The surface bruising, but it couldn't reach the deeper injury."

     "Those are some nasty bruises on your thigh," the Healer observed.

     "I think I got lucky," Jarod said. "When I grabbed my leg, it reduced the pain right away."

     "Yes, you must've hit the right spots to deaden the nerves," Oldive considered. He stopped his palpations on either side of the joint when Jarod hissed and stiffened.

     "Not dead enough," Jarod sighed as Oldive released him. "I'm still looking for a hunk of metal I can use to shield the knee."

     "I'll put in a word to MasterSmith Fandarel and ask him to look for something," Oldive said. "But you might consider asking if Jerint might have what you need. It doesn't have to be metal, does it? I'm concerned you're hauling about enough weight as it is. That metal you found seems pretty heavy."

     "Thanks," Jarod said, nodding. "I'll think about it. I've got a few days off from watching the stars."


	18. Part 18

**Part 18:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.14, Aivas building:

     Ryuu put in an appearance early that morning to help manage the removal of their equipment.

     "I won't forget our promise," Ryuu told Aivas as Wolf disconnected the portable generator. "Five minutes after we depart, execute the terminal virus." Wolf and Puma transported up with the last of the equipment, and Ryuu looked around to confirm everything was as it was when they arrived.

     "By the way," Ryuu whispered conspiratorially, "something else I want you to keep in your subconscious..."

     "I do not have a subconscious," Aivas corrected him.

     "Well--technically--no," Ryuu grudgingly agreed. "But--functionally--my little viruses give you one."

     "I see," Aivas conceded the point. "What else do you wish me to remember?"

     "Not exactly something I want you to consciously remember--just in case anyone digs too deeply into my involvement--but I do want you to keep some awareness about that white dragon I told you about, Ruth. From my conversations with him, I found he's got an excellent time sense among other abilities. He and his rider are quite intelligent. You might find them useful."

     "Without the awareness your programs have given me, temporal travel is on record as being impossible," Aivas pointed out. "And such awareness would constitute a discrepancy that you insisted would not exist in my records."

     Ryuu thought about it for a bit, then went to the keyboard and began typing.

     "These lower level warp theories hadn't yet been engineered when you left for Pern," Ryuu said as he neared completion. "But the theories had been in development, and included the _possibility_ of temporal travel. From your extrapolation of what had been published on space travel up to the time you left Terra, and what was known about those species possessing teleportation abilities, it is possible that you could've independently arrived at these equations," Ryuu said as he finished.

     "That is plausible," the computer responded.

     "Alright then, Aivas," Ryuu said. "Canleé orders."

     "Affirmative," Aivas replied. "Goodbye, Ryuu."

     "Good luck," Ryuu said as the machine went dark. He activated a blower he had brought down and went about the enclosure blowing up what little dust there was to erase their tracks. When he was done, he called the ship for transport, letting the small amount of dust settle and recoat the surfaces.

     Aivas continued the shutdown procedure, but before it was completed, the viral program updates kicked in and the machine erased all records of the last few days. Functionality logs noted the steady decline in power since the last opportunity to charge some three hundred and forty-two years ago without so much as a jiggle in the rate of decay.

     And Ryuu was back at Fort Weyr by midnight.

 

Fort Weyr:

     After completing his assignments at the Harperhall, Jarod settled back into the routine of life at the Weyr. N'ton graciously allowed him to remain at the Weyr as his disability would make travel to and from the Harperhall too onerous at best. It was bad enough to climb up the trail on the inside of the bowl to allow access to the starstones and the platform where they set up the distance viewer. N'ton couldn't see forcing the man to endure the trip back and forth from the Harperhall.

     But on that morning, just before the sun came up and before he could mount on Ruth to fly home, Jaxom was surprised to see Jarod there again, whom he had relieved in the mid-morning hours.

     "Jarod!" Jaxom exclaimed. "What are you doing back up here?"

     "Good morning, Lord Jaxom and Ruth," Jarod solemnly greeted. "I noticed some problems with the distance viewer and I wanted to check it out. Daylight's the best time to work on it, since it won't interfere with our observations."

     "What problems?" Jaxom asked.

     "Haven't you noticed how often we have to reset the declination when we're following the stars?" Jarod asked sitting down to rest from his climb.

     "Well, we know the moving stars lie above and below the ecliptic," Jaxom replied.

     "Except we shouldn't have to make that adjustment every hour," Jarod said. "Worse yet, we shouldn't have to make them for fixed stars, either."

     "What do you mean?" Jaxom asked.

     "I was going to check it against the sun to see how bad it is," Jarod said. "Actually, it should just need a minor adjustment. Maybe a couple of degrees or so."

     "Are you sure?" Jaxom asked anxiously. "What about all our measurements all these Turns?"

     "Don't worry. There's a way to throw out all that data and still make it useful," Jarod said with a grin.

 

Evening at sea:

     Menolly and Robinton rode the Southern Current and made good progress. Having restocked their food and water that morning before passing the farthest point of land northwest of the cove, they didn't need to hug the coast. Therefore, they missed seeing cooking fires set by shipwrecked survivors at the site of an ancient settlement who had washed ashore a sevenday before the harpers were deposited at the Cove.

 

Fort Weyr:

     Soon after lunch, Jarod entered Master Wansor's office along with a chagrined Lord Jaxom.

     "Lord Jaxom! Jarod!" Wansor excitedly greeted when he could recognize the Lord Holder and harper-runner. The Mastersmith was covered with as much chalk dust as the slate board he was using to test out his equations. He had been frustrated with the lack of elegance in what should be simple harmonic equations. He had taken a break to sit down and stared impotently at the skins and wood pulp sheets that contained the observations when they walked in.

     "Master Wansor, I've got some good news," Jarod said walking up to the slate board.

     "And I'm afraid bad news, too," Jaxom said excitedly, getting the Mastersmith's attention.

     "Bad news?" Wansor asked with an astonished expression.

     "The distance viewer was out of alignment," Jaxom said.

     "Wha--AAAH!" Wansor screamed when he looked at Jarod for an explanation only to see the journeyman harper-runner erasing through all of his hard-thought-out equations to make a clean area to write.

     "Don't worry," Jarod said picking up the chalk to begin marking. "We fixed it." He drew several arcs on the board, eventually forming a lopsided-triangle contained in a circle with several more arcs and points.

     "So all those observations are ruined," Jaxom added waving his hand at the skins.

     "Ruined--?" Wansor whimpered, looking down at the pile of sheets and skins on his desk.

     "But don't throw those away!" Jarod yelled, interrupting his notation to point back at Wansor without looking. "We still need them!" He continued to jot down several equations that got Wansor's attention. The Mastersmith slowly stood to see what it was Jarod was writing. When the harper finished, he turned to face Wansor.

     "That," Jarod said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at what he just wrote, "will fix the old observations, so we can still use the data. We'll have to do the same adjustment at Telgar--I think they're closer to being right. But once that's done, I'm sure you will find your task much easier. We also need to identify which of the observations are from Telgar and which are from here. Lord Jaxom, I, and a couple of other fellows can go through and make the corrections to the records in a few days."

     "How does this work?" Wansor asked astounded by the elegance of the six equations Jarod had written. He could see how three of the equations related to the drawing, but when he tried to figure out the other three, he was lost.

     "These," Jarod said pointing at his diagram, "are the erroneous positions of the North pole, Vernal equinox, and Zero hour. These are the correct locations, and these angles are how they relate to each other to find this star. This isn't to scale, of course, but it gives you the idea. You have to solve this equation, then solve these other two simultaneously to get the new coordinates. These other three are the back-check to make sure you did the conversion correctly. They'll also resolve any ambiguities on hemisphere boundaries. You can see these two are inverse functions," Jarod pointed out the first and fourth equations, "so you're really only dealing with five different equations."

     "Wait a moment!" Wansor exclaimed looking closely at the third and sixth lines. "These two have only swapped their sines with each other."

     "Indeed," Jarod agreed. "And the other two have merely swapped these terms as well. Like I said, they're the back-checks to these three equations, but it's easier to think of these as six separate ones. These three convert the old coordinates to the corrected values, while the other three will convert those corrected values back to the recorded coordinates."

     "And this sine and cosine of 'E'?" Wansor asked. "What's 'E'?"

     "Your error factor," Jarod said beaming.

     "I--see! That's--incredible!" Wansor hoarsely exclaimed. "How did you--?"

     "One of the old records I came across when I was still an apprentice had a reference on how to convert one set of coordinates on a sphere to another frame of reference," Jarod explained with a shrug. "I found this would work for any coordinate base, no matter how you oriented it. I never paid it much attention, but it was an interesting exercise. Then when I started working here, I noticed how often I had to adjust the declination to follow the stars, even the non-moving stars. I realized we must've been using the wrong setting for the distance viewer. Since those equations would work to translate one coordinate base to another, even observations made with the incorrect settings are still useful. You just have to be careful to keep track of when the correction was made and keep them separated until we run them through that," he finished and pointed at the board.

     "It must've happened when Meron bumped the distance viewer," Wansor muttered, remembering something.

     "Hmm?" Jarod asked.

     "Oh, something that happened Turns ago," Wansor said shuddering. "I tried to fix it when it happened, but I must've not reset it exactly. I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should've rechecked it after that unfortunate incident."

     "Don't worry," Jarod reassured him. "It's an easy fix--just tedious number crunching. How many Turns are we talking about?"

     "Seven or eight," Jaxom said. Jarod started.

     "Ouch," the harper muttered.

 

     That evening, Lisa tossed and turned in her cot. Finally, unable to take any more of her restless confinement, she got up to go snuggle in among the folded limbs of her dragon. The feel of Voith's hide instantly soothed her anxiety, and Lisa soon fell asleep as her queen sighed in contentment at being in such intimate contact with her rider.

     But then, her dreams began again--the same disturbing images that drove her to seek the safety and calm of her dragon now continued their pursuit--just as Ryuu pursued her in real life. The images started out peaceful enough, but they soon took on a sinister edge, becoming distorted, grotesque, and horrific.

     She dreamt of Syvok, a native of the 40 Eridani Alpha system, who was diplomatic aide in the new Federation and functioned as a liaison officer between the native population and the humans. His was a naturally long-lived species, with a roughly humanoid appearance that unnerved some. She needed company of a sort, and with their unfamiliarity to human norms, she considered they might not question too deeply about her longevity. And she found Syvok oddly attractive. Then, quite by accident, Lisa discovered she had much more in common, biologically, with him than either of them had with their own people: her with the dramatic _Change_ , him with a heightened healing factor that saved him after a catastrophic accident.

     Her sleep became troubled as her mind recalled the objections raised by both their peoples after they announced their intention to form a permanent bond. Her supervisor threatened to send her back to Terra in disgrace, and Syvok's family ostracized and shunned him, disavowing any relation. But they managed on their own, and after some time, with her abilities, she learned that she could even assume their form.

     And then something horrible happened, and Lisa's body trembled with the relived memory. She arrived at their shared home one day just in time to see Syvok's headless corpse being consumed by some sort of energy discharge while a monstrously large man with wild eyes laughed gleefully from the shadows, and he still held the gleaming blade that killed her lover. She was certain she would've died then and there had it not been for her monitors. They tried to destroy the murderer, but they could only slow him down as she ran. As the brute stepped out from the door of her home, she saw his face. Later, she would know that face as Ryuu!

     Her hands and feet began to sweat as she dreamt of her terrified flight from her home, running first to the Eridanian authorities and her embassy, and then returning to Terra, feeling she was being chased the whole time.

     Back on Terra, she learned of a new colony and immediately signed on as a contractor. She rode out the entire fifteen-year journey to her new home awake, with a skeleton crew as her only companions in the eerily dark and echoing corridors. But that was safer than being found discovered by that monster while in cold sleep.

     Voith's reassuring presence asserted itself as she recalled that first Threadfall she endured at Landing. The sickly-gray tendrils seemed to grab at her, dissolving her flesh wherever they touched, and she only survived that encounter by _Changing_. Even so, the horror attacking this new world couldn't compare to what she had been running from.

     She was worried that someone might have seen her _Change_ and left Landing to help build Kenjo's telescope while he assisted the colony against the menace that was attacking Pern. But then he died mysteriously, and she wondered if her nightmare had indeed followed her to Pern. _Changing_ again when Stev Kimmer arrived, she assumed her small dragon form to hide and remained hidden in plain sight while Kimmer futilely tried to increase his gene pool; her own genes wouldn't have helped anyhow. All she could do was watch.

     She'd continued to watch as the shuttle arrived, warily expecting her tormentor to emerge from the hatchway. When the shuttle departed with everyone onboard except for Chio's dragonet bondmate, she attempted to console the creature only to have it abandon her and return to her mistress.

     Her sleep became fevered as she recalled the Turns spent in isolation at Honshu, worried the maniac would find Chio somewhere out in the galaxy and slay her, looking for any information as to where Lisa was. But her need to hide warred with her desire for companionship. Chio's bronze dragonet was brave enough to risk his life to return to his friend, and so, she decided, she too would rejoin the colonists.

     Lisa eventually learned the colonists went north, and memories of Turns spent in the varied Holds, Halls, and Weyrs blurred but exuded a calming influence on her. She had lived hundreds of different lives, enjoying hundreds of occupations, everything that this world had to offer her, and everything that before then had been denied to her.

     Then the voice in her mind said that the one who sent her here would come for her.

     _AND HE CAME FOR HER!_

 

     The sound of roaring dragons woke her and she nearly panicked.

     " _RYUU! HE'S HERE!_ " she screamed. The dragons throughout the Weyr, including Voith, roared with renewed intensity. Her dragon's eyes were whirling white and yellow and she finally realized what was causing it.

     She forced herself to calm, fighting the amplified and reflected fear that her dream had broadcast. Eventually, without the source of their fear, the dragons also calmed.

     The entire Weyr was up and about, people were trying to figure out what happened, but the dragons could provide no answers. Inquiries were sent to the other Weyrs, but no other dragons had any problems, and the event was eventually dismissed, much to Lisa's relief.

 

     Only one person continued to puzzle over the matter.

     "Very odd, that," Ryuu muttered aloud as he looked out across the darkened Weyr. "That felt almost like a flashback. It certainly wasn't one of _my_ memories, nor was it one of _his_. It had to be just a dream."

     Shrugging, Ryuu slowly returned to his bunk.


	19. Part 19

**Part 19:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.15, Fort Weyr:

     Ryuu woke from the flashback, a bit disoriented, as always. He recalled where he was, but he also had to consider the implications of what he remembered. It had been preceded by that strange, disturbing dream. Normally, his flashbacks always had some connection to events going on around him, and it puzzled him how that event related to his current environment. As he considered it, it was the first of their four 'killing situations' his crew had endured, Pern, being the latest.

     _Could it be for that reason?_ Ryuu wondered. _But if not, then why_ that _recollection?_

     It seemed to have some connection with that dream. Such a thing had never happened before and it greatly confused him.

     "That might've been some form of flashback Lisa suffered. If so, she _could_ have sent that to me," Ryuu considered. "I'd almost forgotten we're linked so much more strongly."

     He slowly got out of bed and traveled through the tunnels to reach the Weyr bowl.

     _We've got to convince her not to run!_ he fumed. _But how?_

     That fight had nearly killed him, trying to overload Mathews' Gateway with his own. He survived, and his people survived, only because he got lucky. He got lucky on all those other near lethal encounters, too. This one--so near to where they were finally going home--he could not rely on luck to save them this time!

     "How?" he wondered aloud.

 

     Ryuu left the Weyr on a morning wagon train going down to the Hold in order to get some distance from the monitors that must still be there. Along the way, he thought hard about the strange dream that had preceded the flashback.

     He had a hard time accepting that dream was itself a flashback. Everyone of his crew had them at times, although none with the frequency or severity that he suffered. But they were always consistent. They _always_ were, so far as they could determine, completely accurate for the experiences that replayed. The images he suspected of coming from Lisa, however, skipped time, distorted images, and combined events that he knew had never occurred. So, it might not be a _true_ flashback, Ryuu concluded, but there might still be information that he could exploit.

     Once in front of the Harperhall and where he could keep from being overheard, he contacted the _Panthro_.

     "I need you to do me a favor," Ryuu quietly said into his communicator. "Look up any reference to a Japanese girl who was rescued from a failed colony. It would be back when the Federation was still around."

     "That is not a lot to go on," _Panthro_ complained. "Mind you, I do not have complete records of your years in the Federation."

     "Coordinate with Panthera and Pardus. They have complete records. And check the _Amherst's_ records," he instructed. _Just in case this was something that Lisa sent me,_ he thought. "One more thing, there was a small dragon-like creature involved," Ryuu absently added, remembering something. "Rumors. Of something there, then wasn't."

     "Again, that is not a sufficiently specific inquiry," _Panthro_ stated. "Many rumors existed about dragons, appearing and disappearing in front of witnesses. Mostly, they were created by you."

     " _This_ one won't have been. That should make it easier to find," Ryuu said as he signed off. He looked up at the Harperhall and over to Fort Hold. The scenery he remembered from the dream both resembled the structures now he faced, and differed from them.

     " _Where were you?_ " he whispered. " _Who_ were you?" He closed his eyes and tried to recall the dream.

 

     _The shuttle took off with the colonists. Someone stayed behind and watched it leave. There was a small draconic creature. The bright point of the shuttle faded into the azure afternoon sky, bracketed by two moons preparing to stand watch over the world when the sun set. Rainbow colored eyes flashed and the dragon disappeared._ It was known _that the creature went back to his mistress before it was too late!_

 

     Ryuu's eyes snapped open and he shot his gaze toward the west. There just above the mountains before they slipped from view, in different phases in the mid-morning sky, the same two moons! Instantly, he activated his comm badge again.

     " _Panthro!_ " he yelled. " _It was_ PERN _!_ "

     "The _Amherst_?" _Panthro_ exclaimed. "They carried no natives away when they picked up the colonists!"

     "But there were _rumors_ of something that left with them! That, I _do_ remember," Ryuu said. "They tried to search for it, but they never could establish that anything was there."

     "Pardus confirms that," the ship replied. "Again, with all the rumors you were spreading during that period, it was likely some of your viral programs got out of control."

     "I think I thought that back then as well," Ryuu muttered. "But I've just had a dream that's convincing me that I should've looked deeper into that."

     "A _dream_? Not a flashback?" _Panthro_ asked.

     "A dream," he confirmed. "One that disturbed the entire Weyr. It might also explain what it is that Lisa's running from. It had to come from her. Do you have the coordinates where the _Amherst_ picked up the colonists?"

     "Affirmative. Correlating the coordinates with the Aivas database indicates it was the Honshu settlement."

     "Once I find a secluded spot, I'll need transport to those coordinates," Ryuu said, heading for the road toward Ruatha.

     "Acknowledged," _Panthro_ responded. "Standing by."

 

Honshu:

     The transporter released Ryuu and he looked around, becoming even more puzzled.

     "Yes, this certainly seems to be the right place," he told the ship. "Same shape to the terrain, but heavily overgrown. I'm looking over what might've been the landing field for that shuttle, but you'd never know if you didn't suspect it."

     "So that wasn't a dream?" _Panthro_ asked. "Could it have been a _d_ _éj_ _à vu_ event? You have had those in the past, too."

     "No," Ryuu quickly replied. "Those always give me an accurate image of what I'm going to see and is always of the future. This place is way too overgrown for that. That dream had to be a flashback," he concluded. "But it wasn't mine or the Dragon-Hero's. It must've come from Lisa. It must've seemed like some sort of nightmare to her and she broadcasted that out to the entire Weyr."

     "Is that significant?" the ship asked. "Aside from the danger that if you can hear her, then she might be able to hear _you_. You _have_ made her aware of your connection to the Gateway, if you recall."

     "Actually, it just might be significant," Ryuu replied. "We've been trying to figure out why she's running. The details are vague, distorted, and I'm beginning to forget some items. But it's definitely there. Whatever it was that she's running from, it's got something to do with me. And quite likely something to do with the real flashback I had."


	20. Part 20

**Part 20:**

 

Present Pass 13.5.18, HarperHall:

     "Come," Sebell called at the knock to the office door. "Jarod! What brings you here?" he exclaimed when he looked up to see who it was.

     "Is Master Traller about?" Jarod asked.

     "I'm afraid not," Sebell replied. "He's departed on an old mission."

     "Not Ryuu, again?" Jarod asked with a look of concern on his face.

     "No, another issue that got shelved when Ryuu showed up," Sebell told him.

     "I see," Jarod sighed. "I was needing to report the progress on the starwatching."

     "Yes, I heard about how you and Jaxom fixed the distance viewer," Sebell said, returning to his efforts to get Lazybones to eat. "Good job."

     "Thanks. And we've made considerable progress on correcting the recorded errors," Jarod said as he slid into an open space on the sofa among the rest of Menolly's fire-lizards. "Master Wansor is already seeing improvements in trying to get his equations to work with the data." He looked down at the creatures, and reached out his hand to blue Uncle, who was nearest. The fire-lizard yelped and flinched away from his hand.

     "Did I hurt him?" Jarod asked astonished.

     "No," Sebell said, trying to listen. "He says you're hurt."

     "Oh. My leg," Jarod nodded understandingly. "He must be feeling my pain. The dragonriders tell me their dragons complain when they carry me, too. They're still not eating?"

     "I'm very worried about them," Sebell sighed. "They say she's still alive. They just don't know where she is, not since they lost her in that storm."

     "But they know she's okay?" Jarod asked as he stood to take the meat bowl off the desk.

     "They say so."

     "Then you guys should be eating," Jarod gently said, trying to coax Uncle with the tidbit. "You know she's alright--you won't want her to worry that you've made yourselves sick." Sebell watched, surprised that the fire-lizard actually seemed to understand Jarod's concern. Uncle sniffed at the meat and quickly snatched it from Jarod's fingers, not letting himself be touched. But the fire-lizard chewed very slowly, his eyes still predominately showing gray tones. All their eyes, as well as their hides, were alarmingly gray.

     "Yes, Lazybones," Sebell pleaded to the brown on his lap. "Listen to what Jarod said! You know she's okay, so please don't make her sad when she finally comes back. She _will_ come back!" The brown finally took the morsel. Together, the two of them made progress getting the fire-lizards fed. Sebell was disappointed they couldn't get the creatures to finish the meat, but there were only a few scraps left when the fire-lizards steadfastly refused anymore.

     "Thank you, Jarod!" Sebell gratefully told him. "I had called in Brekke and some other dragonriders yesterday to help me get them interested in eating again, and they all had only got these fellows to eat a few mouthfuls. This isn't going to be enough to sustain them."

     "Waiting is always the hardest," Jarod agreed.

     "Are you back for another few days?"

     "No, I'm on to the Smithcraft Hall," Jarod explained. "I want to check the distance viewer there the same as I did up at the Weyr. I'm on my way to Ruatha to meet with Lord Jaxom and we'll head to the Crafthall."

 

Fort Weyr:

     Lisa nervously paced back and forth in her weyr.

     "Nothing since last sevenday?" she asked her monitor.

     "That was six days ago, Mistress," the tunnel-snake corrected her. "And, no. Nothing. The other robot must still be searching for Ryuu."

     "I don't like it!" Lisa complained. "How can they lose track of their own people?"

     "The dragons and fire-lizards generate subspace distortions that affect my sensors beyond a dragonlength," her monitor explained. "Evidently, they must be having the same problems."

     "But they should have some sort of communications or signaling device to track each other," Lisa pointed out.

     "Unless they were destroyed when Ryuu _Changed_ ," the tunnel-snake suggested. "Remember, you frequently felt him transform. And, unless they have robots resembling native species, such devices will be conspicuous. And since I destroyed the eagle, the one that was accompanying Ryuu is no longer with him. The other robot might find Ryuu as difficult to locate as us."

     "I can only pray so," Lisa sighed, returning to her sleeping dragon's side. Gently, so as not to disturb the queen's slumber, she applied the oil to the stretching hide to forestall any flaking or patchy skin.

     "Voith's growth is proceeding within the normal sampling of the proper maturity pattern for this period set of dragons," her monitor reported. "Her being sired by an Oldtimer dragon does not seem to have affected her potential. She is actually slightly above the medium for her age and color."

     "Her dam's lineage came from Ramoth," Lisa remarked.

     "Mistress," the tunnel-snake's tone caught her attention. "You are aware of the demands to your existence that being bonded--Impressed--to these creatures requires."

     "What do you mean?" Lisa asked, confused by her monitor's approach to whatever subject she was talking about.

     "She will rise to mate in approximately two years, seven months."

     "Turns," Lisa corrected, even as she suddenly blanched. "Remember, they use Turns, here. And Voith is only two sevendays old! Isn't it a little early to start thinking along those lines?"

     "Voith is _sixteen_ days old," her monitor stressed. " _And_ she is, for the time being, smaller and sleeps more often, thus making her more manageable. As she approaches her time, she will be much larger, which will take up more of your time and resources to maintain her health. _You_ will not have the energy left to do what is needed. Also, given that F'lar instituted changes in how queens were raised since Ramoth's hatching, the creatures are encouraged to be more active prior to their first mating flight."

     "That's still more than two Turns away!" Lisa protested.

     "Are you planning to _Change_ again prior her rising?" the tunnel-snake asked pointedly.

     "Good God, no!" Lisa exclaimed. "Don't be ridiculous! That would bring Ryuu right to me!"

     "Then you will not be physiologically a virgin if you act now," her monitor reminded her. "It will not be so painful when Voith rises."

     "Oh!" A cold chill gripped her. She had forgotten about that. _Changing_ was good at healing all injuries, removing scars, and resetting her biological age to her mid-twenties, although her healthy condition could make her appearance seem a good deal younger. But there had always been that annoying little inconvenience. It was no longer such a rewarding experience after such innumerable _Changes_ that she often no longer bothered. "Who, then?" she asked.

     "There _is_ a willing young bronze rider that has been showing interest in you of late."

     "I-I--didn't--want to--encourage him," Lisa stammered. The tunnel-snake stared at her impassively. "Shells, shards, and scorch it all!" Lisa finally spat with disgust and the emotional outburst woke her dragon.

     "It's nothing, my sweet," Lisa said soothingly to her. She regretted losing control like that.

     _This tunnel-snake annoys you?_ Voith asked glaring at the monitor. For added measure, the queen hissed at her, but at least her dragon's animosity didn't go further than that. This time.

     "No, dear," Lisa sighed. She smiled as she remembered how often she had to convince Voith that _this_ tunnel-snake wasn't for killing. Not that Voith ever _could_ harm her impervious monitor, but it made for a more peaceful weyr to keep the queen from trying. "But she did remind me of a duty that's become a bit onerous over the centuries. You should go back to sleep, love. You don't itch anywhere, do you?"

     _No, Lisa! Thank you!_ Voith happily crooned. _You are such a good rider!_ Lisa grinned at how quickly she was able to distract her dragon. Voith soon returned to slumber.

     "So when do you plan to--?" her monitor began.

     "Tonight!" Lisa quickly spat. "I'll meet with him tonight!"

     "You do not need to push yourself," the tunnel-snake said, approaching her to offer sympathy. "There is still time. I know you don't love J'gun, but a few days to allow your emotions to adjust to match your decision..."

     "No, it'll be alright," Lisa sighed. "I just didn't like being pushed, is all. J'gun is very nice and would probably make someone very happy..."

     "Do not forget, he is a dragonrider, now," her monitor pointed out. "And so are you. Weyr life doesn't allow human relationships to manifest as in the civilian population. The dragons have necessitated more open, more fluid interactions. If you have agreeable personalities, that is generally sufficient. Long term commitments are rare due to the randomness of mating flights and the high attrition rates."

     "You're right," Lisa said, nodding.

     "I am factual and logical," the tunnel-snake gently corrected her. "I do know what your feelings are, but practicalities force me to push for your comprehension and acceptance, even if you don't agree with the outcome--it _is_ needed."

     "Thank you," Lisa whispered, stroking her tunnel-snake's eye ridges as she would Voith.

 

At sea:

     Menolly was uncomfortable as she sweltered under the tarp she had made from scraps of the sail. She would've liked to let her body enjoy the warm sea air and would have been quite comfortable wearing just her undergarments, which was all she had on beneath the covering. However, she smiled at the irreverent thought comparing herself to a dragon, her patchy _hide_ just got through healing from the sunburn.

     Sweat made her itch and as she scratched on her left ribs, she felt the sticky pull of another peel coming loose. She winced as she could tell this was a large section.

     "Oh, ick!" Menolly exclaimed as she pulled her hand out from the tarp. The patch was nearly as large as her palm. She quickly flung it over the side, and Beauty instantly launched off her shoulder and caught it before it hit the water.

     "Beauty! Don't you dare eat that!" she shouted at her queen. "That's disgusting! You drop it, _right now!_ "

     With a forlorn sigh at losing the potential toy, the fire-lizard did as she was told and sadly watched the patch of skin float away before going back to resume her perch.

     _Need oil?_ Beauty asked, hoping to soothe Menolly's temper. The question did make her laugh.

     "So! I'm not the only one making references to me peeling like a poorly cared-for dragon!"

     _More like Ryuu,_ was Beauty's response. _He had scales! Needed oil!_

     "Oh, so you're saying I'm a tunnel-snake? Just like Ryuu?" Menolly laughed. " _Him_ , I can see as a tunnel-snake! Okay, I'll buy that with Bitran mark!"

     Beauty regretted reminding Menolly about her dislike of the man. _Why can't friends be friends? Male gold,_ she sadly sighed, recalling her own encounter with the strange creature he had become. Not understanding, Menolly sadly shook her head, wondering when her fair would cease being brain-addled. She hoped it wasn't permanent.

     Dismissing the gold's comments, Menolly thoughts drifted back to her mentor currently resting in the cabin. She worried that Robinton was overexerting it with helping her to sail. Admittedly, the skiff was a bit much for just one person to handle, but she had noticed the pale pallor creep into his face and neck when he helped with the ropes or even the steering.

     Upon sailing into the cove, his face had been crisscrossed with worry lines, though as the days there wore on, his face miraculously had cleared so that only the ever-present laugh lines remained. In some ways, that place had calmed her worries, too. If it weren't for her concern about Sebell, she might very well have been contented to remain there. And if the situation back home weren't so dire, she was sure Robinton would've seriously considered it, too.

     Diver landed next to the sleeping Rocky and Poll with another fish he caught and offered to share when they woke at his arrival. He even inquired to Beauty if she was interested, but the queen declined. Menolly could tell they weren't hungry as they ate the fish daintily. Menolly guessed that if little Zair woke before the meat spoiled under the sun, there would be plenty for him left after they finished.

     As they nibbled, Poll sent a questioning cheep to Beauty. Diver and Rocky stopped to pay attention to her response. Menolly noted the queen was taking her time to consider whatever it was Poll had asked.

     "What is it, Beauty?" Menolly inquired of her gold.

     _Wants to know music,_ Beauty replied.

     "What music?"

     _Music we heard,_ Beauty said. Then she turned her head to rub against Menolly's cheek. _Nothing is_ between _,_ Beauty gently told her.

     Shrugging, Menolly returned her attention to the sailing, letting the fire-lizards discuss among themselves. When they spontaneously began singing, it caught her completely by surprise. Indeed, she wasn't even aware that Rocky and Diver had been humming until Beauty started with her portion.

     Menolly stiffened as the unfamiliar tune evoked a mix of feeling sadness and wonder, quite unlike the abortive song the fire-lizards attempted on the first night at the cove. More unnerving, it seemed to bear some resemblance to the music she heard in her dream. The fire-lizards' voices climbed, flowed, wove, and soared in patterns that Menolly had never heard before, and she noticed Poll listening every bit as attentively beside her. After a short while, Poll joined in seamlessly when the tune began to repeat. They finished just as Zair came prancing out of the cabin to join them.

     After a short discussion, the four launched into another tune, with Rocky and Beauty singing pure sweet and interwoven tones while Diver and Zair chirped a complex melodic counterpoint to their fluting descant. Again, Poll waited until he got the gist of the song before joining in. Menolly's ear caught certain similarities to the first one, and she wondered if the same composer was responsible for both songs. Just as she was about to call him, Menolly noticed Robinton standing just inside the cabin, obviously listening to the goings on.

     "Did you hear all that?" she asked him when the fire-lizards finished.

     "I caught part of the previous song and all of this one," Robinton quietly responded in awe. "Wherever did they learn those?"

     "I was just about to ask," Menolly replied. She inquired to Beauty about the music.

     _We heard,_ Beauty responded. _Cusco sang!_

     "Who? Where? And when?" Menolly demanded.

     _While we were with Shadowdragon,_ Zair spoke up. _Halfway_ between _._

     _Nothing is_ between _!_ Beauty screamed at him.

     "Are they still addle-brained?" Menolly cried.

     "If they heard music like that, they're not brain-addled. They were _somewhere_!" Robinton said. "And we know they weren't at the Harperhall!"

     _See?_ Beauty smugly turned to Menolly. _Not Thread-for-mind!_

     "Then why can't we get a straight answer?" Menolly exclaimed.

     "You know, I'm beginning to think that we've been getting the straight answer all along, so far as _they_ know how to explain it," Robinton muttered. "Those images I got from Zair, that room that had a window that seemed to look down upon the skiff while we were in the storm. They must have seen that someplace! The question now is, what does it all mean?"

     "Even with that wherry that was sitting at a workbench? _Petting a bronze?_ " Menolly asked incredulously. "If that's not brain-addled, then what could be the explanation? What could they have possibly seen that would make them think of _that_?"

     "Then how do you explain the music?" Robinton asked.

     "I can't," Menolly shook her head helplessly. "Nothing about this makes any kind of sense."

     Beauty gently caressed her cheek with her head, sighing in sympathy for her mistress. _Nothing is_ between _,_ she sadly repeated.

 

Fort Weyr:

     J'gun suddenly heard a distant roar.

     _J'gun? What are you doing?_ Achorrath called out. _You seem to feel good! I am happy that you are enjoying what you're doing, but_ what _are you doing? I've never felt you so happy since Impression!_

     "Achorrath!" J'gun exclaimed. "Don't be yelling like that! You're going to wake everyone in the Weyr!"

     There was a moment of silence and J'gun and Lisa looked at each other.

     _Too late,_ the message finally came.

     "Frack!" He quickly got out of her bed. "I'm sorry, Lisa! I'm really sorry about this!"

     _Lisa?_ Voith inquired, waking from the commotion.

     "Later, Voith!" Lisa quickly called. She began laughing as J'gun hurriedly dressed. "It's okay, J'gun," she told him. "These things happen."

     "I just hope K'nebel doesn't catch me!" J'gun said as he rushed out.

     _Lisa? Are you okay? Are you hurt?_

     "I'm fine, Voith!" Lisa quickly reassured her, getting up to go to her queen.

     _Lisa! I smell blood! You_ are _hurt!_ Voith exclaimed. _What did he do?_

     "Voith! Settle down!" Lisa sternly ordered. "J'gun and I--" she wondered how to explain such a concept, but then laughed at herself. It's not like the dragon was a human child that might not understand. "J'gun and I were mating," she told her. "It can be a very pleasant experience, except for the first time when there's always a little pain for a woman. After that, so long as we want to have our mate, we don't get hurt."

     _Have you felt pleasure before?_ Voith asked.

     "So many times," Lisa replied stroking her dragon's eye ridges. "With so many lovers and over so many centuries."

     _Then why are you hurt now?_ Voith whined. _If this wasn't your first time, then why did he hurt you?_ Lisa suddenly stopped and was at a loss for words.

     "It's--uh--complicated," Lisa said, rolling her eyes. She had been determined to not to fall back to the habits of trying to explain it like she would to a human child when she spoke of this to Voith. And here, she just failed.

     She waited to see if K'nebel caught J'gun sneaking back to the barracks. She heard Achorrath speaking to his rider. Evidently, J'gun managed to get in without too much trouble. But slowly, Lisa grew concerned as she thought about what just happened in her weyr.

     _'Frack'?_ she wondered as a cold shiver ran down her back that had nothing to do with the night air.  


Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "I've just received a signal from Ryuu," Pardus announced as Wolf and Arye were strolling through the Arboretum, a large converted cargo hold where the crew had set up a permanent park.

     "Phase three of his little scheme?" Arye asked, guessing the purpose of the interruption.

     "Affirmative," Pardus replied. "I've also recalled Panthera."

     "This is _not_ going to be fun," Wolf grumbled. The black panther said nothing more but bared his teeth in a grin before slipping quietly away into the brush.


	21. Part 21

**Part 21:**

 

Present Pass 13.5.19, Southern Hold:

     Toric was overseeing the late evening arrival of a trading ship delivering essential supplies from the North. T'kul had placed severe restrictions on such trade and travel, but Toric was able to get some minor concessions for items that couldn't be manufactured in Southern. Otherwise, Toric argued, the dragonriders would have to do without and the Hold in general would suffer.

     The Oldtimer bronze rider grudgingly agreed, but the dragonrider warned him that any transgressions would result in dire consequences. As if the restrictions weren't bad enough, he was having trouble getting cooperation from the traders from North. He needed to speak with F'lar about it, without letting the Southern Weyr know about it.

     Fortunately, Toric considered, with the lazy louts too sotted with the heat and the strong drink he cleverly sent in abundance with his tithes, they rarely left the Weyr to watch the goings on in the Hold. Interestingly, he noted, they rarely demanded any tithes of those hard-to-acquire items that came in only on the ships. He suspected, but couldn't prove, they had other means to get them.

     It was his nervous habit of constantly scanning the sky for any dragonrider sober enough to cause him trouble that alerted him to the arrival of the weather-beaten skiff.

     "Of all the--!" he angrily growled as he quick-marched toward the pier they were heading for. He ordered his steward to continue overseeing the cargo so he could personally take the measures for new sails out of the shipmaster's hide for letting one of his boats get damaged like that. But as the skiff came closer, he grew puzzled, realizing it wasn't one of his boats, even if it was using his sails. Then his two queens, who normally echoed his mood, suddenly chirped in surprised joy and leapt from his shoulders to go _between_. Toric saw them pop in over the boat and several fire-lizards joined them in aerial acrobatics. It further puzzled him that there seemed to be a girl who was guiding the skiff while an older man was inexpertly working the lines.

     All traces of anger had faded away to open-mouthed astonishment by the time the boat docked. Well before that, he had finally recognized the girl as Menolly, Robinton's female journeyman. He had seen her a couple of times before since Piemur was assigned to Southern. The man, however, wasn't identified until they had actually arrived and Robinton boldly grinned at him after securing their boat to the pier.

     "Greetings, Toric!" the MasterHarper laughed.

 

Smithcraft Hall:

     "That should fix it," Jarod announced, stepping away from the distance viewer.

     "And with just six-and-a-half Turns' worth of records left to go, this couldn't have been done at a better time." Jaxom quipped, making Jarod wince.

     "Accuracy makes for efficiency, Lord Jaxom," Fandarel spoke up from where he'd been watching their work. The comment made Jaxom wince this time and then Jarod also started grinning.

     Jaxom's stomach growled once more and he was determined to fill it now that the last of the adjustments were done. They had quite a crowd of smiths and holders watching them all morning. But now the area around them was nearly deserted for the midday meal of the Rest Day and there were only a handful of smiths left in the Hall at this moment. He was a little concerned that there wouldn't be much food left if they didn't get going.

     Something apparently caught Jarod's eye, and Jaxom saw all amusement leave his face when the man turned to look. Without drawing attention to himself, Jarod continued to turn about and limped over to Fandarel.

     "MasterSmith," Jarod said in a low voice as he lightly touched his hand to get his attention, "we have a couple of uninvited guests." Fandarel looked surprised by what he said.

     "What is--?" But Jarod tapped his hand to stop him.

     "But I'm afraid I got some finger smudges on the glass," Jarod spoke up. "I'll get something to clean it up." He walked off toward the shed where they stored some cleaning rags.

     "MasterSmith?" Jaxom quietly inquired, not missing the exchange, but Fandarel could only shrug his shoulders.

 

     "Quite a sight, that white one," Wolf told Arye as they stood around the corner keeping a surreptitious watch on the group. "I can almost see what fascinates Ryuu so about him."

     "Are you sure this is wise?" she asked, glancing about nervously. They had both taken Ryuu's suggestion and utilized the resources of their ship to provide them disguises, but she still didn't feel comfortable about their mission.

     "No," Wolf admitted. "But Ryuu pointed out that we need to make an appearance to keep _her_ from getting suspicious and to keep the colonists guessing."

     "How much longer is Ryuu going to take?" Arye nervously asked.

     Wolf never got the opportunity to respond as Jarod's cane cracked him across the mouth, flooring the large man.

     "How much longer _doing what_?" Jarod loudly demanded, pointing the end of his cane at the nose of the astounded Arye. The commotion instantly got Fandarel and Jaxom's attention and they came rushing over to assist.

     "Jarod!" Fandarel bellowed. "What's the meaning of this?"

     "They're a couple of Ryuu's accomplices!" Jarod growled. "I just heard them! So just how much longer is Ryuu going to take doing _what?_ " he demanded again. "And just what did you mean by keeping _her_ from getting suspicious and keeping _who_ from guessing _what_? _Who_ else are you talking about?"

     Arye finally was able to close her open mouth and nervously gulped.

 

     "I still don't understand what tipped you off," Jaxom said as they finished tying them up to a couple of chairs in the Smithhall.

     "Yes," Fandarel said, equally confused. "There were quite a number of holders about wasting their time gawking at what you and Lord Jaxom were doing. What set them apart?"

     "This," Jarod snarled, reaching into Wolf's vest to pull out his injector. "I saw him fiddling with it as they were watching us." Wolf sat silent, sucking on his busted lower lip, and glared at Jarod. Jarod glared back at him.

     "I'm still waiting for an answer."

     "You'll get one soon enough," Wolf finally replied. Jarod blinked and glanced about nervously.

     "Lord Jaxom, you'd better get to the Weyr and bring help," Jarod told him. He looked about at the dozen or so craftsmen there assisting with a worried expression on his face.

     There was the sound of a hissing whine from outside and Jaxom's face suddenly paled.

     " _RUTH!_ " he screamed rushing for the door.

     " _JAXOM! DON'T!_ " Jarod yelled, but the Lord Holder was heedless to the warning.

     " _TAKE COVER!_ " Jarod yelled, diving for the shelter of a workbench, pulling out the sword from his cane as he hit the ground. Flashing light erupted throughout the building. Within a couple of seconds, everyone standing had been struck and was down.

     "About time!" Wolf spat out some of his blood as he watched Ryuu stride in glancing about looking for more targets. He held a large T-shaped object in his hand. A gold dragon no larger than Ruth followed him in.

     "I did what I needed. I just hope it was enough," Ryuu muttered, firing his weapon to cut through the ropes. "Let's get the hell out of here now."

     "No argument about that," Wolf said as he stood and helped Arye to get up. "But I am going to have a few words with you about this mission."

     "Later," Ryuu growled as he walked backwards to cover their retreat toward the dragon.

     Wolf assisted Arye onto the gold, and when Ryuu passed where Jarod laid, the man suddenly rolled over and flung his cane, smashing the weapon from Ryuu's grip.

     " _RYUU!_ " Wolf bellowed instantly rushing for the device. He snatched up the pistol and pointed it at Jarod. He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. "It's busted!" Wolf yelled.

     "Don't worry, I've got him!" Ryuu hissed as he held his right hand. He snarled at Jarod, who stood and grimly readied for the fight. Ryuu shook his hand as he stalked around Jarod.

     Jarod raised the sword in his right hand but leaned back against the bench, bracing himself with his left. Ryuu cautiously advanced, pulling the coming fight to Jarod's right.

     Suddenly, Jarod flung his left hand out, throwing some sawdust he had grabbed from the table into Ryuu's face. Ryuu instantly turned his head and leapt to the side just as Jarod lunged forward. The blade barely missed his body but scored Ryuu's right arm, and the dragon screamed.

     Snarling at the strike, Ryuu spun away, but Jarod pursued, whipping his blade to follow, not giving Ryuu a chance to evade. Instead, Ryuu unexpectedly closed on him, getting inside the sword's reach and Ryuu's left hand grabbed Jarod's right in a crushing grip, forcing him to drop the blade.

     Despite the pain, Jarod continued to strike at the other man; his left leg delivering blows to Ryuu's crotch, shin, and instep, his left thumb digging into Ryuu's face just below the cheekbone, but Ryuu's face barely flinched in response to the assault.

     Then Ryuu suddenly snarled into his face, and even with eyes locked with his opponent, Jarod could see the long eyeteeth Ryuu possessed--almost long enough for a canine or feline. Ryuu then grabbed him by the collar and belt and bodily lifted Jarod above his head and flung the screaming man nearly half-a-dragonlength down the long workbench, scattering the flamethrowers that were in for repair.

 

     "Easy," Lessa warned as Jarod returned to consciousness. His only response was a series of wheezing coughs.

     "Th--tha--that guy--*<cough>*--stronger than--he looks!" Jarod finally got out as a coherent sentence. He rested his head back from the effort to say that.

     "Is there any more you can tell us?" Jarod heard F'lar ask. He looked over to see Fandarel speaking with F'lar and two men with Telgar Weyr colors.

     "After he threw Jarod, Ryuu and the others climbed onto his dragon and they took off," Fandarel told him.

     "And you're not suffering any ill effects from that device?" Lessa asked with concern.

     "So far, no," Fandarel replied. "When the light hit me, I felt a small jolt like you'd get from touching the wire from my distance writer but without the injury one sometimes suffers. I was able to see everything that happened, but I was totally paralyzed, unable to move. So, it doesn't just make dragon-sized holes in stone walls! Very economical! Very efficient! Very efficient, indeed!"

     "Yes, but Ryuu's still got it!" Lessa fumed.

     "Maybe not," Terry spoke up. "Jarod knocked the device out of Ryuu's hand and Wolf couldn't make it work when he picked it up. And there are some pieces that were left behind."

     "J--Jax--?" Jarod tried to say, struggling to sit up again.

     "Take it easy, Jarod!" Brekke yelled at him. "You've been injured!"

     "That's quite a distance you were thrown, young man," the man he realized was the Telgar Weyrleader, R'mart, said turning toward him. "You better do as the healers tell you."

     "Is--Jax--om--?"

     "He's alright!" Lessa shouted at him. "He's fine and so is Ruth! Ruth said it was just like taking a nap, and Jaxom said much the same as Fandarel and the others. You're the only one it seems to taken any serious injury."

     "Well there can be no more doubt the danger this Ryuu presents," Jarod heard someone say as Brekke dosed him with fellis.

     "But just _what was it_ they were doing, M'rek---?"

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     Wolf listened to the conversation via a hidden communicator while Arye used their medical equipment to fix his lip.

     "Sounds like we got their attention," he said with a careful grin between passes.

     "It's proceeding just as Ryuu planned," Pardus said. "This will keep Lisa off guard."

     "As much as anything can," Wolf countered. "You've heard Sherri's report. That girl is intensely--no-- _insanely_ paranoid. She'll never be 'off guard'."

     "She _will_ be misdirected," Pardus replied, standing to leave. "And both Ryuu and Sherri will now be in positions of trust to take advantage," the panther finished as the doors shut behind him.

     Wolf probed his lip with his tongue after Arye finished. "Ryuu's going to owe me for that one," he muttered.


	22. Part 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,
> 
> The day you've been waiting for is finally here! If you've been paying attention to the dates given, you should be familiar with where this is going--time to break out your copies of "The White Dragon" & follow along :P

**Part 22:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.20, Healercraft Hall:

     "I'm afraid that's all I can tell you, Master Traller," Jarod told Tuck. "He looked just as he did in the drawings, and from what I could see of his gold, it seemed to be the same snaggled-toothed, miserable scaled specimen that Jaxom said Ruth chased. I'm sorry that they got away."

     "It's better that you didn't get hurt any _worse_ ," Tuck yelled. "That was exceedingly dangerous for you to tackle them all by yourself. I taught you better than that! _You were stupid!_ "

     "I did have the Smithcraft Hall to back me up," Jarod protested. "At least those that hadn't gone to eat."

     "I'm talking about _after_ Ryuu incapacitated everyone there!" Traller yelled. "From that point on, you were facing three-to-one odds, _plus a queen dragon!_ "

     "Oh," Jarod meekly muttered. "Sorry."

     "Well," Tuck finally said, relenting his admonishment, "you did manage to cause them some grief and maybe disrupted whatever they were doing there."

     "Any idea what they were about?"

     "Unfortunately, not," Tuck responded. "They came out of nowhere and left the same way. Get your rest so you can get back to helping Wansor. _That's_ your assigned duty, Journeyman!"

     "Yes, sir."

     Traller left, letting Sherri enter and see to his needs.

     "Jarod, I know you should be getting some rest," she told him, "but I think you should see just one more person.

     "Lord Jaxom!" Jarod exclaimed when the Lord Holder entered the infirmary.

     "Lay back down, mister," Sherri ordered, pushing his shoulders to the bed. "Or I'll send him right back out again!"

     "How are you doing?" Jarod asked excitedly, but he obeyed the healer.

     "I'm fine. So's Ruth," Jaxom replied with a relieved sigh. "I came by to check on how you were."

     "No _new_ broken bones, though my ribs hurt almost as bad as my leg" Jarod grimaced. "They said I should be up and about in a few days."

     " _Only_ if you stay in bed and rest," Sherri sternly told him.

     "Yes, ma'am. Are you sure Ruth's okay?" Jarod asked with genuine concern.

     "Yeah," Jaxom said. "I'm really surprised by Ryuu, though. He seemed to really like Ruth, but for him to hurt him like that--"

     _I told you I didn't get hurt,_ Ruth spoke to him. _I heard you calling to me. The next thing I knew, I woke to find you crying over me. I am well. I think Ryuu made me go to sleep somehow without hurting me. Strange though that I didn't_ hear _him or his queen approach--_

     "Lord Jaxom?" Jarod inquired.

     "Ruth says Ryuu didn't hurt him," Jaxom said, snapping out of his distraction. Sherri nervously glanced between the two men.

     "Well, I'm more determined now than ever," Jarod growled. "It was bad enough what happened to Master Traller, but this--I'm _really_ after Ryuu for this! And if any more of his accomplices are about, I _will_ find them!"

     _Ryuu!_ Sherri quickly sent.

     _Careful!_ Ryuu instantly responded. _I'm too close to dragons! I'll speak with you later, in person._

     "Were you able to find out what Ryuu and his people were doing there?" Jarod asked.

     "Not yet," Jaxom told him. "Though, it's quite possible you interrupted them before they could do what they intended."

 

     Outside, Ruth suddenly became alert and looked about for the people he heard--one of which was Ryuu! But there was no sign of either one in his sight.

     Just then, Lioth arrived. After bugling his welcome, Lioth told Ruth he had to leave right away after he dropped someone off.

 

Harpercraft Hall:

     Despite that it was just after the midday meal of the first day, Sebell was still in Robinton's office having never left to eat, as he worried over Menolly's fair. They had been pretty much off their food since they had arrived screaming for help two sevendays ago. Normally, fully-grown fire-lizards could go for about three or four days without food without suffering ill effects. But with them being so active for the search, then their depression after the search was called off, Sebell was alarmed at how they were declining.

     His efforts had worn the journeyman harper down as he tried to encourage them to eat. He was coaxing Auntie One with some alluring morsels when suddenly all the fire-lizards let out a scream and leapt _between_. Sebell's heart nearly stopped as his dread grew.

     "Menolly!" he whispered in horror. "Shells! Robinton, too!" And he began weeping. _She was dead! Only that would account for them all going like that! And with her dead, the MasterHarper must be dead, too!_

     Just then, Kimi popped in, screeching excitedly and disappeared _between_ again, and Sebell was racked with his sobs.

     Kimi soon returned still screaming before disappearing again, only to return once more this time scolding at him to follow. He looked up to see her hovering in front of him with whirling blue and green eyes.

     "I--I'm--sorry!" he cried. "Ki-Kimi! They've gone _between_! You can't follow them! Please stay! You're all I have left! Please, I've lost them! I've lost her! I don't want to lose you, too!"

     The gold fire-lizard scolded at him excitedly again before disappearing once more.

     "What's wrong with you?" Sebell cried out in anguish. Kimi returned, still screaming.

     Master Domick burst in just then as Kimi went away once more.

     "Sebell! What's going on? What's wrong with the fire-lizards...?" Domick yelled. He stopped when he saw Sebell on his knees and the expression on his face. "No! Oh, no!" Domick whispered as he quickly understood.

     "They--just--went," Sebell cried. But then Kimi was back and Domick took notice of her behavior and was instantly puzzled just as she disappeared again.

     Domick heard Kimi screaming again, but this time out in the hallway, and when he turned to look, all the color in his face drained away.

     "S--Se--SEBELL!" he shouted. Domick rushed to the journeyman and hauled him to his feet. "SEBELL! _SHE'S NOT DEAD!_ "

     Sebell looked at the master composer in astonishment not comprehending.

     "Come and see! She's not dead!" Domick propelled him to the hallway and reached the door just as Menolly arrived.

     Sebell was shocked at the sight of her, unable to move.

     "Sebell! Sebell!" she cried and grabbed him in a fierce hug. Sebell, still stunned, gingerly touched her shoulder, disbelieving what his eyes were seeing his hand come in contact and not pass through the apparition, felt the solidity of her from his fingers before he returned her hug with his own excited grasp. His screaming her name was muffled by her neck and shoulder as he held her tightly.

 

     Ruth whistled in surprise when he saw it was Menolly. She came with four of her fire-lizards and as soon as Ruth called, the others instantly arrived expressing their astonishment and pleasure.

     With all the excitement, Ruth never got a chance to see where Lioth was going or who else was riding him.

 

     "Master Robinton?" Domick asked anxiously.

     "He's okay!" Menolly quietly said, knowing they had to have the news as quickly as possible. "He's okay! N'ton's taken him on to the Weyr. He just dropped me off here to pass the word."

     "What is going on here?" Morshall demanded as he charged up the passageway. "These pests have totally fouled my lessons!"

     "They're alive, Morshall!" Domick told him, taking that opportunity to depart and leave Sebell and Menolly alone.

     "Alive, you say?" Morshall asked, taken aback.

     "Alive and well," Domick confirmed.

     "Well! That _is_ good news," Morshall admitted sourly. "But seeing as how this is probably going to ruin the rest of the day for any more lessons, we might as well spread the news ourselves!" Domick grinned at the man's perversity.

     Sebell pulled his face from her shoulder to confirm once more she was standing there. Then his eyes widened as he suddenly remembered.

     "Brownie and the others!" he said aghast. "They're so gray!" Menolly also reacted and they both got busy to help feed the starving fire-lizards who were now voraciously taking in the food. While they worked, Menolly told Sebell of their adventures and hardships.

     News spread throughout the Hall and soon it seemed like everyone was outside Robinton's office looking in. The kitchen quickly got busy making more food for Menolly's friends, and after Abuna easily pushed through the crowd with a few judicious blows of a serving ladle, Menolly and Sebell were able to get more meat to them. They didn't have much time alone together as everyone was demanding to know where the MasterHarper was and what happened to them both.

     She did as Robinton had instructed and provided a safely edited version just saying that Robinton needed to report immediately to the Weyr and that he'd be back soon. She didn't include the fact that Toric had come in with them when N'ton and Lioth picked them up, nor that they had gone to Benden's Weyr rather than Fort.

 

Benden Weyr:

     Dusk was settling in Benden Weyr as Robinton climbed the stairs to the queen's weyr, something he had done so many times in the past thirteen Turns. He paused as much to catch his breath as to speak with the man just behind him.

     "We've timed it well, Toric. I don't think anyone noticed our arrival. And they'll certainly not question N'ton," he said gesturing to the Fort Weyrleader dimly seen crossing the bowl to the lighted kitchen caverns.

     Toric wasn't looking at him. He was staring up at the ledge where bronze Mnementh was seated on his haunches, regarding the new arrivals, his jewel facetted eyes gleaming in the dim light. Zair reacted by digging his claws sharply into Robinton's ear and twining his tail more tightly about his neck.

     "He won't hurt you, Zair," the Harper said trying to extract Zair's talons from his sensitive skin. He noticed Toric's expression and bearing showed the holder's surprise and hoped his words to his fire-lizard would likewise calm the man.

     "He's almost twice as big as any of the Oldtimers' beasts," Toric whispered in awe. "And I thought N'ton's Lioth was big!"

     "I believe Mnementh's the largest bronze," Robinton said climbing up the last few steps. He paused to rub his chest when a nagging twinge returned. _All that recent and unexpected rest,_ he thought, _should've fixed that. I'll have to speak with the good Master Oldive about it._

     "Good evening, Mnementh!" the Harper called out as he reached the top step, inclining his body toward the great bronze. "It strikes me as disrespectful to barge in without acknowledging him," he said in an aside to Toric. "And this is my friend, Toric, whom Lessa and F'lar are expecting."

     _I know,_ Mnementh replied. _I have told them you have come._

     Robinton cleared his throat in surprise, not expecting a response. It made him feel very flattered on those occasions when Mnementh spoke to him. However, he did not share the dragon's comment with Toric. The man seemed unnerved enough as it was.

     _And greetings, little Zair,_ Mnementh sent to him alone.

     _Shadowdragon was bigger!_ Zair nervously squeaked. The fire-lizard's statement puzzled the great bronze, and he cocked his large wedge-shaped head at them. The movement spurred Toric to rush into the corridor, keeping Robinton between him and the bronze dragon.

     "I'd better warn you that Ramoth's even larger!" Robinton called out carefully keeping amusement out of his voice.

     Toric's grunt of response quickly dissolved into a gasp of surprise as the tunnel opened up into the large rocky chamber housing Benden's queen. She was asleep on her stone couch, with her massive head angled toward them, her gleaming golden hide reflecting the light from the glows, amplifying their illumination, and giving the weyr a soft warm radiance.

     "Robinton, you are indeed safely back!" Lessa cried, running toward him, a wide smile lighting her unusual face. "And so tanned!" She threw her arms about him in a brief and totally unexpected embrace to the Harper's delighted surprise.

     "I should get storm-lost more often," he managed to say in a light tone, grinning as raffishly as he could with his heart pounding in his chest. Her body had been so vibrant, so light against him.

     "Don't you dare!" she yelled, flashing him a look compounding anger, relief, and outrage, before her mobile face assumed a more dignified smile for her other guest. "Toric, you are very welcome here, and thank you for rescuing our good MasterHarper."

     "I did nothing," Toric replied, surprised. "He'd a dollop of pure unadulterated good luck. He ought to have drowned in that gale."

     "Menolly's not a Seaholder's daughter for naught," Robinton said, clearing his throat as he remembered those horrific days. "She kept us afloat. Though at one point, I wasn't sure I wanted to stay alive!" He gently caressed Zair, genuinely happy his bronze came through unscathed--though how his little friend and Menolly's poor wind-blasted three managed, he had no idea.

     "You're not a good seaman, then, Robinton?" F'lar asked with a laugh. He gripped Toric's arm in greeting and with his left hand gave the MasterHarper an affection crack on the arm.

     Suddenly, Robinton realized the disturbing repercussions his adventure must have had on the Weyr. He was both gratified and chagrined. During the storm, he'd been far too concerned with his rebellious stomach to think beyond the next wave that hit their little skiff. Menolly's skill had kept him from realizing just how much danger they were in and only later did he appreciate that she must've suppressed her own fear lest she lose honor in his eyes. After tying him to the mast as it was too dangerous to guide him to the cabin, she had gone about her seamanship, recovering most of the wind-torn sail, rigging a sea anchor. Then when even the lightning made his position at the mast life threatening, she braved even that danger to untie him and get him under cover. Even with the loss of their fire-lizards swept overboard, as fortunately temporary as it was, she kept her wits and determination to get them through that gale. Robinton shuddered with the memory.

     "No, F'lar, I'm no seaman," he said with a low voice. "I'll leave that to those born to the craft."

     "And follow their advise," Toric warned, somewhat tartly. He turned to the Weyrleaders. "He's got no weather sense either. And, of course, Menolly didn't realize the strength of the Western Stream at this time of the Turn." He raised his shoulders to indicate the helplessness of such stupidity.

     "Is that why you were dragged so far from Southern?" F'lar asked, gesturing for them to seat at the round table set in the corner of the chamber.

     "So I'm informed," Robinton said grimacing over the long lectures Toric and his holders gave him on current, tide, drift, and wind. He knew more than he'd ever take care ever to need about those aspects of the seaman's craft.

     Lessa laughed at his droll tone as she pour them wine.

     "Do you realize," he asked, twirling the glass in his fingers, "that there wasn't a drop of wine on board?"

     "Oh, no! What deprivation!" Lessa cried in comic relief. F'lar joined her in laughing.

     "It was, however, a felicitous accident," Robinton said, getting down to the purpose of his visit. "There is, my dear Weyrleaders, considerably more of the Southern Continent than we'd ever thought." He glanced at Toric, who produced the map he'd hastily copied from larger ones at his Hold. F'lar and Lessa obligingly held the corners to flatten the stiff hide. The Northern Continent was detailed as was the known portions of the Southern Continent. The MasterHarper pointed to the thumb of the peninsula, which contained the Southern Weyr and Toric's Hold, then gestured to the right and left of that landmark where the coastline and a good part of the interior, marked off by two rivers, had been topographically detailed. "Toric's not been idle. You can see how much he has extended knowledge of the terrain beyond what F'nor was able to do during his journey south."

     "I asked permission of T'ron to continue the exploration," Toric's expression showed his contempt and dislike, "but he barely heard me out and said I could do as I liked just as long as the Weyr was properly supplied with game and fresh fruit."

     "Supplied?" exclaimed F'lar. "They'd only to walk a few dragon lengths from the weyrs and pick what they needed."

     "Sometimes they do. Mostly I find it easier to have my holders supply their demands. They don't bother us then."

     "Bother you?" Lessa exclaimed indignant.

     "That's what I said, Weyrleader," Toric replied with a steely note in his voice. He continued as he turned back to the map, "My holders have been able to penetrate this far into the interior. Very difficult going. Tough jungle growth that dulls the keenest chopping blade in an hour. Never seen such vegetation! We know there are hills here and a mountain range further back," he tapped the relevant area on the map, "but I'd not fancy carving my way there length by length. So we scouted along the shoreline, found these two rivers and proceeded up them as far as we could. The Western river ends in a flat marshy lake, the southeastern one at a falls, six-seven dragon lengths high." Toric straightened, regarding the small portion of explored land with mild disgust. "I'd hazard the guess that even if the land went no farther south than that range, it's twice the size of South Boll or Tillek!"

     "And the Oldtimers are not interested in examining what they have?" F'lar asked with disgusted incredulity.

     "No, Weyrleader, they are not! And frankly," Toric added tapping the hide, "without some easier way to penetrate that vegetation, I don't have the men, much less the energy to bother. I've all the land I can hold right now and still be sure my people are safe from Thread." He paused. Although Robinton had a fair idea what he was hesitating about, the MasterHarper wanted the Weyrleaders to know firsthand what this energetic Southerner thought. "Most of the time the dragonmen don't bother on that score, either."

     "What?" Lessa exploded, but F'lar laid his hand on her shoulder.

     "I wondered about that, Toric," F'lar said with a much calmer reaction.

     "How dare they?" Lessa continued, her gray eyes flashing. Her agitation stirred Ramoth sleeping on her couch.

     "They dare, all right," Toric said, glancing nervously at the gold dragon.

     However, Robinton could see that Lessa's appalled reaction to the Oldtimers' delinquency gratified the man.

     "But...but..." Lessa sputtered with indignation.

     "Are you able to manage, Toric?" F'lar asked, calming Lessa with a firm hand.

     "I've learned," Toric replied. "We've plenty of flamethrowers, F'nor made sure they were left in my care. We maintain our holds grass-free and keep the beasts in the stone stables during Fall." He gave a diffident shrug, then grinned slightly at the Weyrwoman's indignant expression. "They don't do us any harm, Lessa, even if they don't do us any good. Don't worry. We can handle them."

     "That isn't the point! They are dragonmen, sworn to protect--"

     "You sent them south because they weren't," Toric reminded her. "So they couldn't injure people here."

     "That still doesn't give them any right to--"

     "I told you, Lessa, they're not harming us. We manage fine without them!"

     The challenge in Toric's tone made Robinton hold his breath. Lessa had a quick temper.

     "Is there anything you need from the North?" F'lar asked in oblique apology.

     "I was hoping you'd ask," the Southerner grinned. "I know you can't break your honor by interfering with the Oldtimers in the South. Not that I mind..." When he saw Lessa about to protest again, Toric quickly added, "But we are running out of some things, like properly forged metal for my Craftsmith, and parts for the flamethrowers that he says only Fandarel can make."

     "I'll see that you get them," F'lar reassured him.

     "And I'd like a young sister of mine, Sharra, to study with that healer the Harper was telling me about, a Master Oldive. We've some odd sorts of fevers and curious infections."

     "Naturally she's welcome," Lessa said quickly. "And our Manora is adept in herb-brews."

     "And..." Toric hesitated a moment, glancing at Robinton, who quickly reassured him with a smile and an encouraging gesture, "if there were some adventurous men and women who'd be willing to make do at my Hold, I think I can absorb them without the Oldtimers' knowing. Just a few, mind, because though we've all the space in the world, some people become unsettled when there aren't dragons in the sky during Threadfall!"

     "Why, yes," F'lar said with such nonchalance that Robinton had to stifle a laugh, "I believe there are a few hardy souls who would be interested in joining you."

     "Good. If I've enough to Hold properly, then I can see my way clear to extending beyond the rivers next cool season." Toric's relief was visible.

     "I thought you said it was impossible..." F'lar began.

     "Not impossible. Just difficult," Toric replied, adding with a smile, "I've some men keen to continue despite the odds, and I'd like to know what's out there."

     "So would we," Lessa said. "The Oldtimers won't last forever."

     "That fact often consoles me," Toric muttered. "One thing, though..." He paused, looking through narrowed eyes at the Benden Weyrleaders.

     So far, Toric's audacity had delighted Robinton, The MasterHarper was very pleased at how he managed to prime the man into requesting the very thing that the North needed most--a problem that had been vexing Robinton before this Ryuu issue appeared--a place to send the independent and capable men who had no chance of attaining holds in the North. The big Southerner's manner was quite a change for the Benden Weyrleaders: neither subservient and apologetic nor aggressive and demanding. Toric had become independent as a result of having no one, dragonmen, Craftmasters or Lord Holders to fall back on. Because he had survived, he was self-confident and he knew what he wanted, and how to get it. Therefore, he was addressing Lessa and F'lar as equals.

     "One small matter," Toric was saying, "which I'd like clarified?"

     "Yes?" F'lar prompted him.

     "What happens to Southern, to my holders, to me, when the last of those Oldtimers is gone?" Toric asked.

     "I'd say that you will have more than earned the right to Hold," F'lar said slowly with an unmistakable accent on the final word, "what you have managed to carve out of that for yourself!"

     "Good!" Toric gave decisive nod of his head, his eyes never leaving F'lar's. Then, suddenly, his tanned face dissolved into a smile. "I'd forgotten what you Northerners can be like. Send me some more--"

     "Will they hold what they have carved?" Robinton quickly asked.

     "What they hold, they have," Toric replied in a grave manner. "But don't flood me with people. I've got to sneak them in when the Oldtimers aren't looking."

     "How many can you sneak in--comfortably?" F'lar asked.

     "Oh, six, eight, the first time. Then when we've got holds, the same again." He grinned. "The first ones build for themselves before the new ones come. But there's lots of room in the South."

     "That's comforting because I've plans for the South myself," F'lar said. "That remind me, Robinton, how far to the east did you and Menolly go?"

     "I wish I could answer you. I know where we got to, when the storm finally blew out. The most beautiful place I've ever seen, a perfect semicircle of a white sanded beach, with this huge cone-shaped mountain far, far in the distance, right in the center of the cove..."

     "But you came back along the shore, didn't you?" F'lar was impatient. "What was it like?"

     "It was there," Robinton said uninformatively. "That's all I can say...." He glanced at Toric, who was chuckling at his discomfiture. "We had a choice of sailing close to land which Menolly said was impossible as we didn't know the bottom, or with sufficient searoom to keep beyond the Western Current which would evidently have brought us right back to the cove. It is, as I've said, a very beautiful spot, but I was glad to leave it for a while. Consequently, while land was there, it was not close enough for any inspection by me."

     "That's too bad." F'lar looked very unhappy.

     "Yes and no," replied Robinton. "It took us nine days to sail back along that coast. That's a lot of land for Toric to explore."

     "I'm willing, and I'll be ready if I get the supplies I need..."

     "How do we get shipments to you, Toric?" F'lar asked. "Don't dare send them on dragonback, though that would be easiest and best from my point of view."

     Robinton chuckled and gave a broad wink to the others. "As to that, if another ship should chance be blown off course, south from Ista Hold...I had a word or two with Master Idarolan recently and he mentioned how bad the storms have been this Turn."

     "Is that how you chanced to be South in the first place?" Lessa asked.

     "How else?" Robinton said, assuming a very innocent expression. "Menolly was attempting to teach me how to sail, a storm came up unexpectedly and blew us straight into Toric's harbor. Didn't it, Toric?"

     "If you say so, Harper."

     They continued to socialize well after midnight before it came time for N'ton to return Toric to Southern. Robinton indicated he still had some matters to discuss with the Weyrleaders and F'lar told N'ton and Toric that he would return the MasterHarper to Fort.

 

Healercraft Hall:

     "Thank you for your visit, Lord Jaxom," Sherri said as they stepped out of the Healer Crafthall. "I think that was just what he needed. He's been so concerned about you and your dragon being hurt in that fight--he wouldn't rest until he was convinced you were okay."

     "We had been warned that Ryuu and his people are dangerous," Jaxom shuddered. "I guess I never appreciated just how much so. They are about the same size, but Ryuu just picked him up like that and threw him--he'd have to be at least as strong as Fandarel--maybe even more so! Dorse really doesn't know how close he came to being killed! Ryuu must've been just playing with him the other day," he said shaking his head in dismay.

     "Well, I doubt any of them will come around here," Sherri said. "They're in way too much trouble now."

     "Still, what Jarod mentioned is a very valid concern," Jaxom said. "What were Ryuu and his people doing there? And what had they been doing since their fight with Thella?"

     "Isn't that someone else's problem?" Sherri asked rather pointedly.

     "True," Jaxom sighed. "But it still involves me and Ruth. Technically, it shouldn't involve the Weyrs, but with Ryuu Impressing a queen--and I saw she still had that flamethrower strapped to her arm! Ruth had seen her kill someone. It means she's ready to do that again!"

     "Well, they're not here," Sherri reassured him before going back inside, leaving Jaxom to walk on out to his waiting dragon.

 

     "What's happening, Ruth?" Jaxom asked, noticing the excited activity going in and out of the entrance to the Harperhall.

     _Menolly has returned,_ Ruth replied.

     " _WHAT?_ Why didn't you say something?" Jaxom yelled, himself now running for the ramp.

     _I was_ trying _to hear where Ryuu--oh, I suppose it's not important,_ Ruth gave up when it was clear Jaxom wasn't listening.

 

     As dusk settled, Sherri returned to her quarters to relax from the long day helping the healers with other patients and a final check on Jarod, who was sleeping.

     Too tired to open the glow basket, she eased her frame into a chair and rubbed her temples, working her hands along her head to her neck to ease the tension. Only belatedly did she realize the dim light coming in from the window was illuminating a set of feet of someone deep in the shadows.

     "It's me," a deeply growling voice said at her gasp.

     "Ryuu!" she nearly exclaimed. "I wish you'd stop doing that! Wolf is bad enough, but that really creeps me out!"

     "It's the feline in me," Ryuu muttered. "We each have our little gifts and our annoyances. You know, Wolf's actually better than me at tracking, although I've on occasion managed to even surprise my monitors a few times. But d'ya wantta know what _I_ really find annoying? That the rest of you always make enough noise _to wake a dead cat!_ So what were you needing when you called me?"

     "I wanted to warn you that there's someone hunting you," Sherri told him when she got over her shock. "And the rest of us."

     "I'm aware of what's going on," Ryuu said coldly. "I've got my eye on this Jarod. Don't worry about him. Worry about Lisa," An object launched out from the darkness and clattered onto the table beside her, making her jump.

     "What's this?" Sherri asked, but she already recognized the scanner.

     "Something useful that _Panthro's_ just finished," Ryuu told her.

     "But we already know who she is," Sherri protested. "And her monitors will detect the scanning signals."

     "It's her monitors we're going to be looking for with these. They're still not up to full range--maybe about twenty--or twenty-five percent of normal--but it'll still give us an edge on her monitors. We have to know where they are so we can stay out of their way," Ryuu explained. "In the meantime, the ship will continue to boost their range. Keep working on getting her trust."

     "But what about Jarod?"

     "Like I said, don't worry about him," Ryuu said stepping out of the shadows.

     "Oh my God!" Sherri exclaimed.

     "Who were you expecting? 'Captain Black'?" Ryuu growled his question while raising an eyebrow.

     "Ac-act-actually, y-yes!" Sherri stammered getting over her second shock in as many minutes. "You _did_ mention 'Ancalagon'!" Ryuu grinned at her.

     "Remember, this is a killing situation for us," Ryuu then said, losing his mirth. "We can all die on this one. At least we know _why_ she's running. It's me."

     "Oh?" Sherri asked suddenly suspicious. "Something in your deep dark past you're not telling us?"

     "Something like that," Ryuu muttered. "Just remember, we stay out of their politics, but we cannot allow her to escape. All we can do is wait."

 

Benden Weyr:

     "I'm concerned that the issues in Southern may catch us unawares, what with this problem we have about Ryuu and his people grabbing all our attention," Robinton said.

     "I'm not so certain that they're not one-in-the-same," Lessa said.

     "Well, I'm no longer certain that they are," Robinton countered.

     "Were you able to find out anything about Ryuu while you were down there?" F'lar asked, interrupting any possible outbreak of hostilities.

     "Not much, I'm afraid," Robinton sighed. "When we finally got to the Hold, I put in a discreet word with some of Toric's people, but no one's heard anything about a _man_ Impressing a gold dragon. On the other hand, they do say something's brewing at the Weyr. They're all discouraged from making any visits. That was disappointing, but not unexpected. I've long since ceased assuming he's just an Oldtimer.

     "As for what we do know of Ryuu, we arrived at Piemur's cot, but all the devices looked damaged. We gathered them up and put them in the boat. After that, we got blown to the cove."

     "That must've been a harrowing experience," Lessa shuddered.

     "It got worse than that," Robinton muttered. The concerned looks on their faces were what the MasterHarper was afraid of.

     "While we were there, someone-- _somehow_ \--stole the devices!"

     " _WHAT?_ " both Weyrleaders exclaimed.

     "I've no proof, of course, but who else could've done it but Ryuu?" Robinton asked sourly.

     "And he just showed up at the Smithcraft Hall with one of those things!" Lessa growled.

     "He did?" Robinton cried out.

     "By all accounts, that one got broken," F'lar said. "And it might've been his original device."

     "But with all those extra parts, couldn't he get it working again?" Lessa asked.

     "It depends on how skilled he is," Robinton sighed. "Him, or his people."

     "So what can we do?" F'lar asked.

     "Until Ryuu or one of his accomplices reappear, all we can do is wait," Robinton told them with a helpless shrug.


	23. Part 23

**Part 23:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.23, Harperhall, early morning:

     Robinton sat at his desk after breakfast, unable to focus on the tasks needing his attention. His mind kept going back to his meeting with Oldive two days ago.

     After he and Menolly returned from their little misadventure and Robinton had made his report to Benden, the MasterHarper had sought him out, complaining about chest pains and shortness of breath. The results of Oldive's examination had stunned them both. Robinton was well on his way to a severe heart attack!

     "I--I w-would've thought being stranded there--well--it should've helped--" Robinton had complained.

     "It most likely _had_!" Oldive had retorted. "Otherwise, I think you'd be dead already!"

     A knock at the door brought him back to the present. For now.

 

Fort Weyr:

     With her stomach satisfyingly full from a bowl of cereal that her scans had indicated was safe to consume, Sherri was enjoying a relaxing moment listening to the Weyr's harper as she sipped from a cup of orange juice.

     "I wish I could see their faces when they get wind of _this_ ," a voice whispered into her ear. She spun around to see it was Ryuu in his uncanny disguise.

     "What do you mean?" she asked astonished. Then dread filled her veins as experience taught her to be concerned. " _What did you do?_ " she demanded. Ryuu simply gave her a very evil grin that only served to confirm her fears.

     "You didn't--something about this music?" she looked at him in horror. " _WHY?_ I thought we weren't supposed to get involved in their politics!"

     "Remember what Ancalagon the Black was all about?" Ryuu asked her. She turned back to look at the musician, trying to figure out what Ryuu had done. _Was it something about the song? That tune? What did Ryuu do?_ Turning back to him to insist he tell her, she saw that he was just exiting the cavern.

     " _DAMN IT!_ " she exclaimed, slamming her fist down on the table, upsetting her empty bowl. The startled looks everyone gave her made her instantly blush.

     "Sorry!" she sheepishly grinned.

 

Harperhall:

     "So you still don't see any connection between Ryuu and the Oldtimers?" Sebell was asking when Robinton concluded their discussion. "He--" he trailed off as he noticed his Kimi and Menolly's fair perking up at the sound of humming.

     "Beauty?" Menolly asked, evidently puzzled by her queen's behavior. "What is it? What's wrong?"

     "I've heard that before!" Sebell said, standing up and turning towards the door. The sound rose in pitch then faded away.

     _Ryuu comes!_ Kimi chirped happily as Beauty cocked her head. Sebell saw Menolly's face pale, and he looked just in time to see something slide in under the closed door.

     "HEY, YOU!" they heard someone outside yell. " _STOP!_ " Instantly, Sebell rushed to the door, but had to yank his head back as he opened it when a bar went flying past his nose. Kimi screeched in surprise and launched into the air, followed by Zair and all of Menolly's fire-lizards.

     " _SOMEBODY STOP HIM!_ " Sebell heard Jarod shout over the sound of a heavy impact. He cautiously peeked out again.

     "Jarod!" he shouted. "What's going on?"

     "That was Ryuu!" the limping man exclaimed swinging his uncooperative leg in an effort to move quickly. "He's just gone down the apprentices' stairs!" Jarod limped on past the door.

     "Stay here!" Sebell commanded Menolly, who was trying to get her fair under control, and then rushed out to assist Jarod. But her fire-lizards followed Kimi out and Menolly rushed out, too.

     "You there! Stop that man!" Jarod shouted down to someone below as Sebell caught up with him.

     "Stop who?" Sebell heard Ranly call back.

     "The man who just ran down the stair!" Sebell replied from the top where Menolly joined him. Below were three apprentices standing at the bottom, looking confused.

     "No one came down!" the apprentices replied. They ducked as all twelve fire-lizards zipped back and forth in confusion.

     "That's impossible!" Jarod angrily shouted. "He just ran down there! He was eavesdropping at the MasterHarper's door!"

     "Chalk it up to another one of Ryuu's miraculous escapes," Sebell sighed. Jarod looked at him in consternation, then carefully proceeded down the stairs and retrieved his cane.

     Menolly gasped, and Sebell followed her gaze, seeing a gouge knocked out of the stonework on the wall at the top of the stairway. That's when he noticed the stone fragments littering the stairs around where Jarod retrieved his cane.

     "What would that have done if that had connected?" Menolly nervously gulped. Jarod had quite a disgusted look on his face when he returned, and Sebell saw it never fazed him as the fire-lizards zipped back and forth past his head.

     A piercing whistle, however, did make Jarod blink in surprise, as it equally surprised Sebell and all the fire-lizards.

     "That's enough!" Menolly shouted at them. "Everyone! Into the office and find a place to settle!"

     Jarod raised a questioning eyebrow at Sebell as she shooed the creatures out of the hallway. Other craft masters were now out in the hall looking about in confusion, demanding to know what was going on, and Sebell took the charge to calm them down, leaving Jarod a way clear to enter the office.

     When Sebell returned to Robinton's office, he found the MasterHarper alarmingly pale as he read the sheets, having retrieved them from the floor.

     "Master Robinton? What's wrong?" Sebell asked. Robinton silently handed him the woodpulp sheets and Sebell's eyes bugged out as he gawked at them and felt the blood drain out of his face.

_A question arrived upon dragonwing, a puzzle to be solved_

_Who was the stranger, why was he here,_

_and what had he sought?_

_Answers lie far across the waves the only way for them to see_

_Was set sail to undertake a most_

_Dangerous journey_

_We share our hope and find our hope_

_Coming in from afar--_

_We cling to hope and bind our hope_

_As they followed the stars_

_Dragons sought brave travelers lost without hope upon the sea_

_Who were seeking for the answers_

_To a mystery_

_Skies grew dark, they fought for their lives as waves crashed down_

_Trying to stay afloat with sails ripped_

_And lightning all around_

_We share our hope and find our hope_

_Coming in from afar--_

_We cling to hope and bind our hope_

_As they followed the stars_

_The tremendous gale released them from its stranglehold_

_And the little skiff brought them_

_Safely to the cove_

_The wondrous sights they beheld greatly eased their hearts_

_they found they were reluctant_

_To leave these parts_

_We share our hope and find our hope_

_Coming in from afar--_

_We cling to hope and bind our hope_

_As they followed the stars_

_But duty binds their hearts and they sadly sail away_

_Seeking Hold, Craft, and love_

_To see a new day_

_The questions lie unanswered, but this they know for sure_

_That true life really depends_

_On love that is pure_

     "Sebell? What is it?" Menolly looked at them with concern. Robinton was shaking as he poured a glass of Benden white, and Sebell felt faint. The journeyman's hands were shaking when he handed the sheets to her and she began to read.

     "What on earth is this?" Menolly exclaimed before she was halfway finished.

     "Worse--look who it's written by," Robinton said, quickly draining the goblet.

     "Whoa there!" Jarod yelled as he and Sebell quickly rushed to support her before she could fall. Beauty and the others began screaming, rearing up and spreading their wings in alarm.

     "I--never-- _I couldn't_ \--!" Menolly stammered, gasping in panic.

     "Uh, it's one of your tunes," Sebell muttered as he took the sheets from her and looked again.

     " _WHAT?_ " Menolly yelled yanking the pages back from him.

     "Those are your notes," he told her.

     "This was just a tuning! It never had any lyrics!"

     "It does now," Jarod muttered, reading them over her shoulder. Menolly stared at the man in terror. Both journeymen guided her to her seat. Menolly apparently realized her fair were starting to react to her panic again, and she called them to order.

     "Is _this_ what he was doing here?" Jarod asked Robinton.

     "I wonder," Robinton muttered as he sat in his chair.

     "Well, how the hell did he get away?" Jarod asked. He looked accusingly at Sebell. "You say he's done this before?"

     "Not quite as dramatically, but yes," the journeyman replied.

     "Well, he couldn't have gone on dragonback!" Jarod pointed out. "Even on that small gold of his! That stairwell's just too small for it! I don't think even that white dragon could fit in there!"

     "There wasn't any dragon about when he did those disappearances in the Gather," Sebell replied.

     "Then how--?" Jarod began but then trailed off to stare at the two greens and Mimic sitting on the mantel above the fire. The other harpers in the room noticed his attention and then the fire-lizards under scrutiny finally noticed.

     _WHAT?_ they all demanded with an outraged squawk.

     "Uh--nothing," Jarod said, shuddering. "Just a wild thought." But Sebell and Menolly both caught him making several sideways glances towards their fire-lizards. Jarod then noticed that Menolly was watching him.

     "I apologize for such an abrupt meeting. You must be Menolly," he said to her, holding his palm out. "It's good you returned. Your fire-lizards are looking much better now. I'm Jarod."

     "Thank you," Menolly replied neutrally, covering his palm.

     "Do you remember before we set sail, I mentioned a suspicion about Ryuu?" Robinton spoke up ending the awkward silence that followed. "Maybe I wasn't so far off, after all."

     "What's that?" Sebell asked, looking back to the Harper.

     "That he may not only be a renegade dragonman," Robinton stared at them. "But a renegade harper, too!"

     "With _his_ singing voice?" Sebell exclaimed. "You remember what Master Traller said!"

     "But Zair, and Menolly's four that were with us have been going on about some music they heard," Robinton said. "In fact, Poll, who was with us the whole time, is the only one who didn't hear it firsthand. The others got blown overboard and when they returned, they kept going on and on about someplace with the most extraordinary music. And now this," he gestured to the sheets Menolly still held.

     During one of Jarod's sidelong stares at her bronzes, Sebell saw Menolly's face harden, and she quickly stood and confronted him.

     "What is it about my fire-lizards?" she demanded. Jarod seemed startled to find himself nose-to-nose with her.

     "Oh, I'm sorry," Jarod murmured. "I was trying to work out just how much they could take _between_."

     "What?" Menolly exclaimed. "You think Ryuu might have a fire-lizard that's taking him?"

     "Like I said, it's just a very wild thought," Jarod apologized. "But the more I think about it, what else could it be? I mean--he couldn't--he couldn't very well take _himself between_ \--now could he? Logically, what else could do it?" he held is arms up questioningly.

     Sebell and Menolly stole a glance at each other before looking at him as though he'd lost his mind.

     "I know! I know!" Jarod waved in surrender. "Totally nuts! But a fire-lizard's certainly more concealable than a gold dragon, even if it is the size of the white one! _And they can go_ between _!_ "

     "Next, you're going to be saying it could be a watchwher!" Sebell snorted.

     "No--now he's got a point," Robinton spoke up, leaning back into his chair. "We really don't know that much about our little friends. Or even dragons, for all the thousands of Turns we've had to study them. Just how much _can_ a dragon take _between_? Then what about a fire-lizard?"

     Sebell had a fleeting moment of fear that the MasterHarper might still be feeling the effects of too much sun.

     "But MasterHarper!" Menolly exclaimed. "It took all nine of mine to bring my pipes to me! How _could_ they carry a man?"

     "The only thing that makes sense is that Ryuu timed it from the future," Robinton pointed out. "If so--then _maybe_ he's learned something about dragons and fire-lizards that we haven't!"

     "You're saying a single fire-lizard could take a full-grown man?" Sebell asked.

     "If he was bold enough? Maybe," Robinton replied.

     "Well, you're not going to find _me_ that bold!" Sebell exclaimed.

     "Then should we be interfering with him?" Menolly finally asked. "If he's from the future, then perhaps it is some mission that's vital to his time."

     "But you remember Lessa's trip?" Jarod spoke up. "She made certain not to interfere too much with the past."

     "Except to bring the Oldtimers forward," Sebell said with a snort.

     "Because they had already left with her hundreds of Turns before she went back," Jarod responded. "She was just completing what history already dictated. Ryuu's been messing with people too much! He's been interfering on too many different levels. He has to be stopped!"

     "Jarod's right," Robinton said. "He could've been killed when Ryuu threw him across that workbench. Ruth could've been killed when he flew against that rogue dragon of his. And we still don't know who it is he's really looking for."

     "Or why," Jarod added.

     "Exactly!" Robinton said.

     "But what do we do about this?" Menolly fearfully asked, holding up the music.

     "If he's a renegade harper trying to spread unauthorized songs, then we can't let this out!" Sebell said.

     "Don't forget, he might have timed it, too!" Menolly pointed out. "And suppressed or not, being a harper, he might find this!"

     "There's one way to fix that!" Robinton said, pulling open a drawer. He fed his little bronze fire-lizard some small bits of firestone.

     "Handy, that!" Jarod snorted, looking at the cold hearth. Sebell, likewise, had to grin.

     "Indeed," Robinton said as he motioned Menolly to give him the sheets and coaxed Zair to do his business.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "When are you people going to let me return home!" Kylara screamed.

     Wolf glared at Mike for bringing her onto the Bridge.

     "You know we can't," Wolf flatly stated.

     "You can't hold me like this!" Kylara screamed. "I'm a WEYRWOMAN!"

     "And as Ryuu would tell you, ' _we_ are all _dragons,_ '" T'khill calmly said, bringing the tips of his talons to touch each other in a contemplative manner. "So--yes, we can," he added firmly.

     The sight of the talking wherry, and its apparent Impression to a bronze, still unnerved her, but her anger was helping her cope.

     "I will NOT be treated like THIS!" the former weyrwoman yelled stamping her foot. "And--this--this-- _wherry_ \--however it can speak, is talking nonsense!" she yelled at Wolf.

     "T'khill, would you be so good as to show her?" Wolf sighed. T'khill nodded and indicated to Stealth that he should stay where he was. The feathered creature walked a little distance away from its charge and turned.

     "Stealth, I am going to use the Gateway," T'khill told the bronze dragon. "Do not fear, but you should close your eyes to the flash."

     _I am ready,_ the weyrling gulped as his eyes closed.

     Kylara was blinded by the brilliant flare, and by the time she could see again, where the walking, talking wherry had stood, was now a blue dragon the size of Benden's bronzes. She gasped at the sight of the huge scaled monster, as did her queen fire-lizard, who trembled and quickly hid her face in Kylara's hair. Then Kylara saw small bolts of lightning begin to play over the blue creature's hide. Sparks leapt from point to point across sharp ridges, scales, horns, and wing-claws.

     "Puma?" Wolf gently asked, and the petite dark-haired woman with fascinatingly beautiful features stood up and let her robes slip off. She took a few steps from her seat and threw her head back. When Kylara could see again, a twisting, coiling, knotting golden tunnel-snake, the biggest she ever had seen, was _actually hovering in mid-air!_

     Kylara estimated that if the creature were stretched out, it could be as long as that huge blue. Only something was odd about this tunnel-snake, aside from its size, color, and the fact it could fly! It didn't quite _look_ like a tunnel-snake! Its face was the wrong shape, the eyes didn't look like those belonging to a normal creature, and try as she might she couldn't locate the third set of limbs. There was also fur about its antlered head and two long whiskers that were whip-thin and just as pliant. Fur also adorned the tip of its tail.

     "Arye?" Wolf spoke out, and the blonde-haired woman stood as Puma had done, also disrobing, and walked a few paces from her chair. Kylara got the hint and quickly closed her eyes. The flare still burst red through her eyelids and left a green haze on her vision. When she opened her eyes again, she sighted a gold dragon every bit as large and magnificent as her lost Prideth. Only this gold queen had scales, had the wrong shape to her head, and had gold-flecked eyes that resembled those of small domestic felines--only these eyes were as large as her own head!

     "You will excuse me if I don't ask Mike to change, or that I do either," Wolf said in a bored voice, which still managed to get her attention again. "It gets a little crowded in here as it is with three full-sized dragons on the Bridge. He can become a bronze that, like T'khill, can breathe lightning. And I become a red dragon. I breathe out flame--just as Arye does. Oh, and you don't want to know what Puma breathes out.

     "I think, if you would care to pay attention, we _can_ keep you here," Wolf told her. "As I understand it, the creatures down on the planet you call dragons, they do not harm people? Well, _we_ have no such restrictions keeping us from killing humans. The only thing that keeps us from doing so is _our own choice_. We _choose_ not to." Then he leaned forward in the command seat to glare at her.

     "But make no mistake, Kylara of Pern," he growled. "There _have_ been times when _we chose otherwise._ " He then sat back again.

     "So, now let us have no more talk about sending you back," Wolf said waving his hand. "Ryuu--healed your mind. He does not wish to harm your little friend, so he chose not to put your mind back the way it was when you arrived. This is why you are staying. But if you continue to annoy us, then your safety will not be guaranteed. Have I made our positions perfectly clear?"

     Kylara wordlessly and shakily nodded.

     "Good," Wolf said. "None of us have any desire to annoy Ryuu by offing one of his pets. But if you persist, someone's going to forget, or even worse, _not care if Ryuu gets annoyed._ And I've been known to not care the least if Ryuu gets pissed with me. Vicious and cunning a fighter as he can be, there have lots of times that I've beaten him, _and I enjoy a good fight_. Mike, could you please take her to her quarters?"

     Once the doors shut behind the woman, Wolf burst out laughing and was soon joined by the others once they reverted to their native forms.

     _Are you certain it doesn't hurt?_ Stealth anxiously asked T'khill.

     "These little jolts?" T'khill asked, cocking his head in amusement. "They hardly ruffle my feathers!"

 

     "D-do you really--can you do that, too?" Kylara nervously asked Mike as they traveled in the elevator. _These moving rooms are actually large enough to hold both Ramoth and Mnementh!_ she had considered. Only now did she understand why.

     "Of course," Mike cheerfully replied. "Would you like to see?"

     "NO!" she instantly squeaked. She instantly regretted her quick reply as it obviously disappointed the man. At this point, it probably wasn't wise to disappoint these creatures. But what else could she do? The monsters that they could become now terrified her. And the gold runt called Ryuu--that red-haired man implied that they've fought in the past, and everyone else's attitudes had some level of fear about Ryuu.

     _Dragons fighting dragons?_ She shuddered at the idea, remembering her loss. _Yet these creatures routinely did so?_

     Kylara nervously gulped at the implication that the gold runt of a dragon was indeed the man she met, and given the worried expression from everyone else when discussing him--she'd better be careful about _that_ creature from now on!

     "So, can you explain to me about how you can--become a dragon?" she tentatively asked. The question actually seemed to brighten Mike's mood, and she breathed a little easier.

 

Harperhall, late morning:

     "It looks like things are finally starting to return to normal around here," Jarod said as the journeyman took a convenient stool in the now empty Choir Hall. Sebell laughed as he put away the notes he used while teaching the apprentices this morning.

     "Yes, now that the MasterHarper is back," he agreed.

     "And _Menolly?_ " Jarod slyly asked. Sebell stopped and stared. "I couldn't help but notice the exchange of looks. So is it getting serious?"

     "I'm hoping, someday," Sebell sighed.

     "Hmm," Jarod nodded. "Hope it works out for you. She seems like a nice girl."

     "That she--"

     " _Whoa, there, Fur-ball!_ " Jarod yelled, suddenly leaping off his stool to the side and grabbing a beige something flying through the air that Sebell only caught a glimpse of. At the same instant, Kimi launched into the air, greatly alarmed. The sound of Jarod's cane and stool falling to the stone floor clattered in the empty hall.

     "Jarod!" Sebell exclaimed. "What hap--?" Then he saw that the journeyman was holding a struggling feline in his grip as he tried to regain his feet. "Scorch those felines!" Sebell snarled, grabbing his knife as he approached. He only now realized that Kimi had been its intended victim.

     "No need to kill her," Jarod said, finally sitting up. With one hand, he held the feline, while he used his good leg and other arm to lever himself up. "She's young. They can be taught not to attack the fire-lizards if you get them at this age."

     "They're a nuisance!" Sebell spat.

     "Now, maybe," Jarod said, glaring at him. "But a few years ago, we needed them to keep down the rodents, didn't we? Still do, don't we? After all, how many rodents are the fire-lizards catching? If we get rid of all the felines, what happens?" he asked meaningfully.

     Sebell stopped to think about that, but his mind drew a blank, but his desire to kill it also faded unexpectedly.

     Jarod turned his attention to the feline, still struggling to leap at the flying gold fire-lizard. Sebell saw it had the same tawny markings and dark face and feet of a pet he used to have long before he came to the Harperhall. But he gave up the idea of having such a creature after he made journeyman, and certainly having got Kimi, the idea was out of the question.

     " _HEY!_ Stop that!" Jarod said, tapping his finger on the feline's forehead. "Stop it!" the man warned raising his finger again, and the creature growled back at him, but didn't try to scratch him, Sebell noted.

     "Knock it off! Be nice!" Jarod said, tapping the feline again. Sebell couldn't believe his eyes. The little monster was reacting as though it got a few well-deserved slaps as it now cringed in Jarod's hand. "They're friends," Jarod said, taking a limping step toward where Kimi had finally settled on the sand table, and the feline again tried to leap and reach for its intended target.

     "Hey! _No!_ " Jarod said, using his finger against the feline's cheek to force its head toward him. "Look at me! I said, _no!_ " The creature's eyes blinked and suddenly got wide and it struggled now to get away from him.

     " _AAA-a-a-*!_ " Jarod exclaimed sharply, and the feline cringed again, but Sebell couldn't see that he had done anything to it. "Be nice!" Jarod repeated. He took several more steps toward Kimi, all the while speaking and stroking the feline. When he got to the table, he set the feline down a short distance from his gold fire-lizard.

     "Jarod!" Sebell exclaimed. "That thing just tried to kill her!"

     "It's okay!" Jarod responded in the same tone he'd been using with the feline, giving him an annoyed glance. Turning back to the feline, Jarod repeated in a softer voice, "They're friends! Be nice! They're not for hunting!" Sebell couldn't believe it. Kimi was right there, not an arm length away, but the feline had eyes only for Jarod, completely ignoring his precious queen that it tried to kill just moments ago.

     "It's okay! Look at her! She's a lot like you! She's an ally!" Jarod was now saying in a mesmerizing tone to the feline.

     The feline tentatively glanced at Kimi, and Sebell couldn't stand it anymore went over to her.

     "Don't interfere!" Jarod shouted, holding up his hand. He continued to glare at the feline, and it, apparently, fearfully at him. Then it cautiously crawled toward Kimi, keeping Jarod in its sights.

     Sebell had had enough and pulled his blade. Instantly, Jarod whirled on him and grabbed his arm in a strong grip.

     " _Don't!_ " he snarled into Sebell's face. "This is not a time for killing. This is a time to build bridges." Sebell glanced fearfully at the feline so close to his precious gold.

     When the creature, still staring at Jarod, got within touching distance, Kimi cautiously and nervously sniffed at the creature, and it snapped its head about in surprise. Then, unbelievably, the feline began to sniff back at Kimi. Kimi crooned and the feline suddenly relaxed and butted its head against her.

     "There! They have crossed that bridge, unarmed. And you should, too. Or it was all for nothing," Jarod said cryptically.

     A tension that Sebell wasn't aware existed seemed to leave Jarod as the man suddenly relaxed and turned away to retrieve his cane. Sebell was flabbergasted at seeing the feline greet his queen as though they had been littermates all their lives. He was actually hearing it purr in counterpoint to Kimi's crooning.

     "How--?" was all Sebell could articulate as Jarod struggled to straighten up once he gripped his cane.

     "Like I said, once you get them young enough, you can teach them not to attack," Jarod replied in an enigmatic way that reminded Sebell of someone, someone he couldn't recall, but it made him feel suddenly nervous.

     A sudden bellow echoing across the courtyard startled them both, as well as Kimi and the feline, and put away any further questions that Sebell had.

     "Master Robinton?" Sebell exclaimed, and he took off through the door, followed quickly by Kimi. Jarod glanced at the feline that was looking about in confusion and surprise seeking the danger.

     "Hmph!" Jarod snorted. "Yep. Back to normal," he said before following Sebell out the door.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     "This is all we know about the _DRAGONS_ ," Mike gestured to the ghostly image of the creature. He had explained the Dysonsphere _THEY_ had built, and on a representation of the surface, under the illuminations of the numerous sun-like satellites, he presented her with the scenes from their last, and only recorded visit. " _THEY_ exist simultaneously in both normal and subspace, constantly phasing in and out of our dimensions."

     _Nothing is_ between _! Nothing is_ between _! Mustn't see_ THEM _! Nothing is_ between _!_ Kylara's queen fire-lizard repeated over and over, hiding her face in the woman's hair. Her terror was proving to be a distraction.

     "What is wrong with you?" she shouted at the small creature.

     "She seems to be frightened about something," Mike observed.

     "If she wasn't somewhat useful--" Kylara fumed but left the alternative unspoken.

     "Could I help?" Mike offered.

     "Yes, please!" Kylara said, disentangling the creature and handing her over to Mike. "Keep her quiet."

     "Boy! She really is frightened of something," Mike said as he tried to soothe her. " _Panthro_ , can your scanners detect any danger we should be aware of?"

     "All systems are registering nominal environments within the limits of both onboard and exterior scans," the ship reported. "Scanners focused on the planet are currently at thirty percent normal effectiveness, but otherwise show no adverse conditions."

     "Very odd," Mike muttered. "Something must be frightening her."

     "Perhaps it is the subject matter you're discussing," _Panthro_ suggested. Mike's eyebrows went up with inquiry. "I have noted that when Ryuu discussed the nature of the subtemporal dimension _between_ or the subject of our Creators with Master Traller, his native companion exhibited heightened stress and anxiety. T'khill's bronze companion also exhibits such nervousness when the discussions are on _THEM_. Ryuu has expressed a possible connection between these natives and our Creators. Even if there is no direct ancestral lineage, it would appear they are aware of one another."

     "Hmm," Mike considered that. "It could be. Well, there's no need to needlessly frighten the poor thing. Fortunately, for her, there's not much more to tell. Aside from _THEIR_ love of the number sixty-four, and a few artifacts of _THEIR_ technology, we know very little about _THEM_. _THEIR_ science is on par with several Meta-races of our galaxy, and might even surpass most of them. At best, the technology can be described as 'magic.'"

     "That's not very informative!" Kylara spat. Mike could only shrug his shoulders.

     "That's as much as we know," he said, deactivating the Holodeck, and the room returned to its empty state. The pure white walls caused Kylara to lose her perspective of distance, making her uncomfortable in such a changeable environment.

     _Nothing is_ between _! Mustn't see_ THEM _! Mustn't see_ THEM _! Nothing is_ between _! Nothing is_ between _!_ her fire-lizard queen cried out, trembling even more violently in Mike's comforting hold.

     "We did once come across a childhood toy belonging to one of _THEM_. It had been stolen by an old enemy of ours, and by the time we tracked it down, it had totally destroyed a world..." he was saying as they left the chamber.

     Even without the white walls, it would have been difficult to spot the entity. The walls and floor of the Holodeck shook from the slow thudding footfalls, and the room echoed with the slow deep measured breathing of something that perhaps no longer needed air to breathe. It reached the limits of the chamber but did not slow, even as the doors did not respond to its approach, and the ghostly image passed through the bulkhead and stepped out into the corridor. A shimmer passed through the air, momentarily revealing a reptilian face and a huge eye with a vertically slitted pupil. The darkness of the pupil pulsed wider as the entity regarded the three creatures departing down the corridor before the shimmer phased and the image vanished.

     The _Panthro_ , aware of the entity's presence, mentioned nothing of this to the crew.

 

Harperhall:

     "Master Robinton?" Menolly exclaimed as she burst into his office. Sebell was there, breathing as though he had just run in, too. And Zair was screeching in astonishment as he flew about the office.

     "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" Robinton yelled.

     "Believe what?" Menolly cried.

     "LOOK AT THIS! LOOK AT THIS!" Robinton shouted, shaking a message skin. Sebell was the first to recover and came up to take the message.

     "Shards!" he whispered as he read it.

     "What is it?" Menolly fearfully asked. If it sent Robinton into a rage and was making Sebell's face pale, it must be horrible news.

     "And that's not all!" Robinton yelled but at a reduced volume. "I just got six other messages saying the same thing from Holds all over!"

     She reached for the skin, but Sebell wouldn't give it to her.

     "You remember that song we burned?" he asked her. "The one that Ryuu had apparently written and signed your name to? They love it! Everyone at Benden Weyr loves it!"

     "Not just Benden, but Fort Weyr, South Boll, Lemos, Telgar Hold and Weyr, and Nerat, too!" Robinton said. " _It's all over Pern!_ "

     Menolly suddenly felt her face drain of blood and her hands and feet were freezing. Beauty launched up and all of her fire-lizards joined Zair in exclaiming their fear. Kimi's eyes were also flashing yellow, but she didn't take off.

     Jarod slammed into the doorframe with his cane sword drawn and the lower half held at the ready to ward off attack. He looked about in confusion at the three harpers staring at him.

     "Trouble?" he politely inquired.

     "Not that kind," Robinton grumbled.

     Jarod heaved a sigh and sheathed his cane sword. He limped on in.

     "I see they've had their klah this morning," Jarod muttered as he glanced at the fire-lizards zipping about. Embarrassed, Menolly quickly worked to get her fair under control, and Robinton called Zair to his shoulder.

     "What's up?" Jarod inquired with apparent curiosity.

     "It seems that visit we had from Ryuu was just his way of notifying us of what he had already done," Robinton growled. "I just got word that the song he had made has already been well received at over half a dozen Holds and Weyrs."

     Jarod whistled in astonishment.

     "So he's just shown that he has the resources to spread unauthorized ballads throughout Pern and make it look like it came from the Hall," Jarod said in awe. Then he frowned. "But to what purpose?" he asked.

     "Obviously to facilitate whatever nefarious scheme he's hatched," Menolly said.

     "Hmm," Jarod nodded. "Either as part of his plan? Or as a diversion to hide it?"

     "But why take the risk of getting caught to tell us he can do it?" Sebell asked. "Jarod might have killed him! But he came anyway!"

     "He may not have known that I was here," Jarod pointed out. "But he does, now. He'll be more cautious."

     "But you won't be here for the most part," Robinton said.

     "Perhaps," Jarod agreed. "But he may not know that."

     "He can speak to dragons and fire-lizards and find out," Menolly spoke up.

     "Mmm," Jarod nodded. "That could be a problem. What can be done about that?"

     "Something doesn't feel right," Robinton said. "What Jarod said, he's shown us he can use our resources against us. But _why_ do that? If he really wanted to cause problems, he could've used such means to spread unauthorized teachings and we wouldn't find out until months, or Turns later. He _wants_ us to know he can! That was the whole point of him showing up!"

     "Could it be that he's already done so and he feels it's too late for us to do anything about it?" Sebell asked.

     "If so, then this is a diversion," Menolly said.

     "Apparently, he's a dragonrider," Jarod said. "And a song-writer. Perhaps there's some connection between the two that's at the heart of his plans?"

     "What plans?" Sebell asked.

     "He said he's looking for a missing relative," Robinton said.

     "How could spreading improper ballads help him find the person he's looking for?" Jarod asked.

     "Like Menolly surmised, that may be a diversion," Robinton stated. "Without anything more substantial, that's the only conclusion to get from this."

     "Could he be using it to draw out the person he's looking for?" Menolly asked. "Remember, Master? The way you tried to use one of my tunings to find me?"

     "It doesn't seem like it would," Robinton replied helplessly. "Not unless it was either of us he was looking for."

     "Except I don't like the subject material of that tuning," Sebell said. "He knew way too much about your trip."

     "So if he's not an Oldtimer, you think maybe he did come from the future?" Jarod suggested. "Then because Menolly did write that tune and he's just giving a jump to the song?"

     "Oh--no-no-no-no-no!" she fervently denied, violently shaking her head, her eyes wide with panic. "I'd _never_ write something so dreadful!" Beauty querulously asked what was wrong and she had to calm herself down lest the fire-lizards get excited again.


	24. Part 24

**Part 24:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.24, Fort Weyr:

     J'gun watched Lisa arrive at the kitchen for lunch after seeing to her dragon earlier that morning. He paused, hoping for some sign, for whatever he must have done wrong, hoping she would at least talk to him about it. But she obviously avoided him, barely even glancing in his direction. He watched for another second then stamped out of the cavern.

     She seemed so distant ever since their late night encounter a sevenday ago. He'd expected that everything would be fine after managing to get back to the barracks without being caught by K'nebel. He couldn't understand her sudden chilly mood towards him.

     But the next day, Lisa had completely closed herself off from him and he could see the terror in her eyes. She gave no reason, though it wasn't difficult for him to guess that she regretted their intimate experience, wonderful though it was. When he finally had a chance two days later to speak with her in private and reassure her that nothing had changed, she ran away before he could even say anything. That incident did get K'nebel's attention, and J'gun ended up having to confess to being with her the other night. That got him a sevenday's extra duty.

     But even the Weyrlingmaster seemed to notice the changes in Lisa's attitude and J'gun often saw the man pondering what went wrong. And it was clear that K'nebel wasn't annoyed with him, even for the extra duty. That was standard discipline. This was something else, and they both knew it.

     _J'gun, why are you so sad?_ Achorrath asked. J'gun quickly bit back his tears as he walked back to the barracks.

     "Nothing that I can fix," J'gun told his dragon. He so desperately wanted to tell her it couldn't be so bad, whatever the problem was. He wanted to offer her his protection if she was afraid of something. But he couldn't approach her. It was as if he was whom she was afraid of. "Nothing that I can fix."

 

     Lisa turned when she heard the dragon speaking to J'gun. She watched as the man quickly turned and left and she breathed a sigh of relief and remorse. Relief that he was going. Remorse that maybe she was making a horrible mistake. Maybe he wasn't one of Ryuu's people. But she couldn't take the chance. He _could_ be!

     "Jarod!" Lisa heard N'ton call as the injured harper entered the cavern along with Sherri. Lisa found a table nearby where she could eat and listen unobtrusively.

     "And I want you to get rides from the watch dragon! No more climbing the trail on your own until those ribs have healed!" Sherri was loudly telling the journeyman harper as Jarod made his way toward N'ton, evidently the continuation of an ongoing conversation. "And watch what you eat!" she called as a parting shot.

     "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," Jarod grumbled as he waved. Lisa wasn't sure if he was waving to N'ton or waving off the healer behind him. Probably the latter as she noticed he was rolling his eyes.

     "Oh! K'lid!" Sherri suddenly shouted, rushing to the bronze rider's table. "How is Sudeth? Is he still doing well?"

     "Are all healers as bad as that?" Lisa overheard Jarod ask the Weyrleader.

     "Most!" N'ton suddenly laughed. "Though, I do think Sherri's been better than most." Jarod made a non-committal grumbling noise at that.

     "So how are you doing?" N'ton asked.

     "Wait one. I'll be right back," Jarod said, passing the Weyrleader. "I need to get something to eat."

     The harper soon returned with tubers, greens, and a couple of thick slabs of roasted wherry. Lisa shuddered at seeing it. She could eat the stuff in small quantities, but over time, the build-up of toxins would force her to Change. It was much safer for her to eat the roasted herdbeast. And she had to be careful of the native flora the colonists ate, although most of Jarod's choice would've met with her approval.

     "I'm starved!" Jarod said as he eased himself onto the bench.

     "Yes, I've noticed you don't eat so much," N'ton commented.

     "Pain will do that to your appetite," Jarod mumbled through a large mouthful of wherry. "Your body's response is 'you're fighting, you're injured, you don't have time to eat!' But after awhile, it catches up with you and you have to force yourself to eat."

     "I heard what happened at the Smithcrafthall," N'ton said.

     "Ryuu caught me by surprise, there," Jarod said, attacking the tubers. "And once more at the Harperhall! He'd slipped something into Robinton's office and got away before I could stop him."

     " _That_ , I hadn't heard!" N'ton exclaimed.

     "We're not certain what that was about," Jarod said, pausing between bites. "There was something about an unauthorized tune going out. It may be related to his hunt for that 'missing relative' he's claiming exists. We just don't know. But despite him getting away, and despite what my master says, _I'm after Ryuu!_ And I _will_ find his people, no matter where they're hiding!"

     Lisa quickly suppressed a gasp and gulped at the implications.

     _No! Not another one!_ she desperately thought. It was bad enough that the man and his accomplices were sniffing about on Pern hunting for her. But for one of the colonists to actually try to _find_ that monster? The harper had no idea what he was getting himself involved with! She couldn't have that on her conscience! But she trembled as she thought of her options. She _had_ to stay hidden! No one on the planet could know of her true nature, but how could she save Jarod from such a foolish mission?

     _Lisa? What is wrong?_ Voith called to her. _What frightens you?_

     _I'm okay!_ she quickly replied. _But someone else is in danger because of me! I don't know how I can help him, but he mustn't hunt Ryuu! That monster will kill him without a second's hesitation!_

     "Anyhow, it's been a long ride up here and I've got second starwatch tonight," Lisa heard Jarod say, and she blinked in surprise as she saw him wiping his mouth after finishing his meal. The concerns she had running about in her mind had eaten so much time! "And since I'm going to be able to use a dragon for a lift," Jarod was saying, "I don't have to start up the trail right away! I'm going to pop in and get some sleep beforehand."

     "Well, it should be good weather tonight," N'ton said. "Sweep riders scouting the islands out past Tillik and off of South Boll report no storms approaching from either direction."

     "That's welcome news!" Jarod said, getting up from the table. "Good day, to you and Lioth," he said in parting.

 

     "Uh--excuse me," Jarod heard someone call just as he was about to enter his quarters.

     "Hello?" Jarod said, turning to see a young woman standing there. "Uh--You're one of the newly Impressed, aren't you? Um--Lisa, I think. Right?"

     "Yes," Lisa timidly admitted. She nervously looked about before taking a step toward him. "Listen," she quickly whispered to him. "I overheard you speaking with N'ton."

     "And...uh--yeah?" Jarod asked, also shooting a glance up and down the passageway. Lisa seemed to be struggling with a difficult decision about whether or not to proceed with the conversation.

     "I think we have to talk," she whispered, evidently getting over her reluctance.

     "Okay, talk."

     "No. Not here. My weyr. Last one before the Weyrling barracks. At sundown."

     Jarod glanced toward his quarters.

     "Okay--so much for sleep," he muttered. "I'll be there," he told her. Lisa quickly slipped away before anyone else could see her there, and Jarod watched her leave.

 

     Lisa was nervously pacing back and forth in her weyr as she waited for Jarod's arrival. One end of her route brought her to the opening and she could see out over the Weyrling barracks. As she emerged from the entrance once again, she glanced out to see J'gun looking toward her cavern.

     Lisa froze, worried that he would see the harper who she expected to arrive at any moment. But a sad emotion passed over J'gun's features and the young bronze rider slouched as he retreated into the barracks.

     Just as Lisa felt that she could start breathing again, she saw Jarod arrive at the bottom of the stairs leading up to her cavern.

     "Is this safe enough?" Jarod asked. Lisa nodded and led him inside.

     "I assume this is in regards to what happened at the Smithcrafthall," Jarod began. She started at his comment.

     "Look," Jarod sighed at her reaction. "You mentioned there was something you needed to talk with me that had something to do with my discussion with N'ton. Other than the incident at the Smithcrafthall, the only thing I can think of that we discussed which could possibly be requiring a meeting like this was the rock that took out my knee. I _hope_ you're not going to tell me you were responsible for _that_! Because if you were--"

     "It's about Ryuu," Lisa whispered.

     "Oh, that's good!" Jarod said, his face expressing exaggerated relief. "Beating the snot out of a queen rider would _not_ go over too awfully well here!" Lisa barked a laugh.

     "No, I suppose it wouldn't!" she agreed. His face changed to express sincerity towards her.

     "She's quite a beauty," Jarod said, tossing his head toward her queen. "What's her name?"

     "Voith," Lisa replied.

     "Very pretty," Jarod said. "Easy to remember. By the way, I've never asked any riders before, but do dragons ever explain what their names mean?"

     "Not that I'm aware of," Lisa replied.

     "Hmm. Pity," Jarod muttered as he limped over to her sofa. "I've always been curious about that," he said as he settled on it.

     "So, about Ryuu," he hesitantly began. "Is it too much to assume that--perhaps--you're the person he might be looking for?"

     Lisa hesitated once more, but she had come this far, she might as well get it over with. She forced herself to acknowledge it by sharply nodding her head.

     "I see," Jarod replied slowly, as if already deep in thought. "Well, we should start out by getting you some protection--"

     " _NO!_ You can't!" Lisa all but screamed. "No one must know!"

     "There's got to be something we can help you with," Jarod said.

     " _NO!_ There's no place that Ryuu and his people can't find me!" Lisa protested. "Please! You can't tell anyone!"

     "Well, if it's got to be such a secret, then why are you telling me?" Jarod asked with evident confusion.

     "Be--because I heard you were going after Ryuu," Lisa said. "Please, you have no idea what kind of person Ryuu is. I--I can't have your death on my conscience."

     "Well--I'm--flattered that you're so concerned about my well being," Jarod said. "But I've learned a lot from Master Traller. I think I can handle myself. Now, I understand your concern about Ryuu. He's evidently a slippery fellow--"

     " _Seriously!_ You have _no idea_ of what he's capable of!" Lisa interrupted. "He--" she had to pause, lest she inadvertently reveal too much about herself to the colonists.

     "He--he killed my husband," Lisa finished. "He means to kill me, too!"

     "I--understand," Jarod frowned. But then his face registered confusion. "Do you have any idea why he wants to kill you? Why would a dragonrider want to kill a simple drudge--no offense intended." Lisa stared at him incredulously.

     "I checked around," Jarod responded to her unasked question. "After one of Ryuu's accomplices Impressed a bronze, it was thought prudent of us to look into the backgrounds of candidates and the recently Impressed.

     "You were a drudge in Fort," Jarod explained. "That green rider--what's his name--E'tic, I believe, found you during the recent Gather. Now, from what we know of Ryuu, he's a gold rider, possibly from the future. So if he was from the future, killing you wouldn't make too much sense, unless you had some relationship of some kind. Maybe something you're going to do? But, then, how would _you_ know that?"

     Lisa stared at the man, dumbfounded, and quickly worked to weave her own history into Ryuu's apparent web of deceit.

     "I--I'm not from your time," Lisa finally said, thinking it would make her situation plausible if she played along with their ideas. "I--came from the future to escape Ryuu. He--killed--will kill my husband."

     "And the rider that brought you--?" Jarod asked.

     "Ryuu killed him, too!" Lisa sobbed. "After we arrived!"

     "I see..."

     "I hid for as long as I could!" Lisa quickly said, trying to steer the conversation away from pure lies and toward something that she could at least 'creatively interpret' so she could stay somewhat truthful. "I went from Hold to Hold, until I finally ended up at Fort. I--I certainly didn't expect to Impress Voith! I was only trying to evade the man! But once I did, well, I'm stuck here!"

     "Hmm," Jarod seemed to consider that. "Can you tell me when you came from? And why would someone like Ryuu want you dead?"

     "It's too far ahead for you to try heading him off, if that's what you're thinking," Lisa said. "The beginning of the next Pass. As for why he wants me dead, have you seen his dragon?"

     "Huh!" Jarod nodded. "Yes, I have."

     "They're not the same type of creature you're familiar with," she told him.

     "And so that's why we can't tell Master Traller, Robinton, or any of the Weyrleaders," Jarod seemed to understand.

     "Because Ryuu would be able to access the records in the future and track me down," Lisa finished, hoping he was thinking along the same lines.

     "I see," Jarod said. "I really do. Do you think he knows what you look like?"

     "I don't know," Lisa nearly wailed. "I don't think so, but I can't be certain!"

     "Well, there is that possibility," Jarod said thinking about it. "If he had any idea, he could've spread your picture about. We do know he can utilize the Harper network to spread unauthorized songs. We think he's trying to use such to get you to respond, like Robinton tried when he was looking for his girl journeyman. If Ryuu had a description, he could easily do the same and just wait for us to do the work for him."

     "You think so?" Lisa exclaimed.

     "Oh, we know so," he confirmed. "Okay. I--won't tell Master Robinton. I know that what harpers hear are for the Harper's ear. But in telling him, it might, at some point, get written down, and that would be bad for you, no matter when it might happen. So, I won't tell him. This will just be between you and me. Master Robinton would understand--if he could be made aware of it--which he can't.

     "As for you, I think you can probably relax," Jarod told her. "If Ryuu knew where you were, he'd be here right now. So, I wouldn't worry too much."

     "But what about his accomplices?" Lisa asked.

     "I'm keeping my eye out for anyone suspicious," Jarod said. "But since they may not know who you are, I doubt any of them are going to bother you, either."

     "I do have one concern," Lisa let slip before her caution could stop her.

     "Oh?"

     "It--it's--well, you said that one of Ryuu's associates Impressed a dragon," Lisa said.

     "Yes--a man named T'khill," Jarod acknowledged.

     "Wh--what if there was another?" Lisa asked. Jarod raised his eyebrows.

     "You've got someone in mind?" Jarod asked.

     "J'gun," she whispered.

     "J'gun?" Jarod asked astonished. "J'gun?" he repeated with some confusion. "Isn't he one of the kids who Impressed a bronze with you?" Lisa nodded. "Oh, I doubt he's involved with Ryuu."

     "How can you be so certain?" Lisa asked.

     "Well, according to N'ton, the kid's weyrbred," Jarod said, shrugging his shoulders. "He should be safe--unless--"

     "Unless what?" Lisa asked when Jarod grew silent.

     "Unless you have reason to suspect N'ton is in league with Ryuu, too?" Jarod said with a wink.

     Blushing at the ridiculousness of her fear, Lisa laughed.

     "I've got to get going," Jarod said, getting to his feet. "I'll do what I can to help."

     "Thank you," Lisa quietly whispered.

     "Well, as you pointed out, neither of us should mention it," Jarod grinned before limping out. Lisa saw him to the top of the stairs and watched the man depart. Then she saw J'gun watching from where he sat by the doors to the barracks, and guilt suddenly overwhelmed her.

     Before she realized what she was doing, she was running toward the barracks.

 

     J'gun completed his extra duties and had returned to the barracks when he saw the crippled man limp toward the weyrling grounds. Astonished, he watched from inside as the man unhesitantly ducked into Lisa's weyr. Once inside, J'gun saw to Achorrath's needs, and then sat forlornly on his bunk, thinking about what they might be doing.

     _Nothing makes any sense!_ he railed. _Every time anyone even gets close to her, she gets hysterical! But this person, whom I've only seen occasionally about the Weyr, is suddenly trusted to walk right in? What gives?_

     When Achorrath pressed him about what was bothering him, J'gun had to tell his dragon he needed time and space to think.

     He went outside and sat by the door, weeping.

     As the sky blackened after twilight, he saw the harper and Lisa appear at the entrance to her weyr.

     _She seems happy, now,_ J'gun considered. _Hopefully, it will last._ But he wondered why he worried that it just might and why such a possibility would make him feel so miserable. He watched as the man's limping form vanished into the night, and then turned his gaze toward Lisa's weyr, but quickly looked away when she returned his gaze. Finally, he couldn't take any more of it and decided to go inside and say, scorch it!

     Suddenly, Lisa was running down the steps. But to J'gun's surprise and delight, she ran toward him rather than the crippled harper! Breathless, J'gun waited. The fact that she not only rushed up to him, but grabbed him in a fierce hug would've laid him out in a dead faint had it not been for her hold on him.

     "L-Li-Lisa?" J'gun stammered out.

     "Thank you!" she hoarsely said to him. "Thank you!"

     "Uh--about what?"

     "I-I know I haven't--I've just had so many worries," Lisa stammered out, not certain what to say, or in what order she had to get it out. But she needed to tell him. "I'm so sorry I got you in trouble! I was just so afraid!"

     "About what?" J'gun asked, overcoming his surprise. "If there's anything I can help..."

     "I--I can't tell you," Lisa apologized. "But I have to tell you that I appreciate your help! Thank you! I'll make it up to you, I promise!" With that, she rushed back to her weyr. Stunned, J'gun just stared after her.

     "If I hadn't seen that with my own eyes--" J'gun heard a voice behind him. He turned to look and saw it was K'nebel and gulped. He was still on restriction.

     "Any idea what that was about?" the Weyrlingmaster asked.

     "Beats me," J'gun replied.

     "Me, too," K'nebel said as he departed. "Good night. But don't try anything. I'll be watching."

     "Yes, sir!" J'gun gulped and quickly went inside.  



	25. Part 25

**Part 25:**

 

Present Pass, 13.5.26:

     A steady thumping approached and Menolly fumed as she stared through the distance viewer.

     "You're late!" she snarled. The thumping stopped and there was silence as she continued her observation.

     "Indeed?" a graveled voice finally asked. " _Well_ \--I _had_ started up the trail _right after breakfast this morning_. Next time, I'll skip that, too."

     "Ooops," Menolly muttered, wincing.

     "Speaking of 'late'," Jarod continued as he resumed his approach, "I seem to recall that I've been up here spending several very, very pleasantly _frigid nights_ while _somebody_ , who shall remain nameless, was no doubt suffering pure abominable agony while _basking herself in the atrociously warm and sunny waters somewhere south of Boll._ And I'm certain your boat ride must've been a much more onerous entertainment than getting tossed about cluttered workbenches like a rag doll. Well, I've known people to _actually pay_ for chances to experience such things! Oh, and just so I don't forget to mention, on some of those nice cold nights, there were occasional refreshing _colder-than-_ between _showers_ to wake me up as I huddled under my tarp!"

     "Sorry," Menolly softly said as she withdrew from the distance viewer and sheepishly grinned. She could just make out his face under the double quarter moons. "I was expecting Dermently."

     "He had to stay late helping Wansor with his equations," Jarod explained. "I offered to take his place."

     "Still, I should've realized it was you," she said, pointing to his cane.

     "It's alright," Jarod grunted as he moved to sit down beside her with his back to the rock wall. "It's just something I have to get used to. Just let me recover from the climb up here." Beauty and the others whined in sympathy.

     _He hurts!_ Menolly's queen told her.

     "Is it pretty bad?" Menolly asked.

     "Hurts like nothing else can," Jarod sighed as he stared out over the darkened Weyr.

     "I'm sorry you got hurt at the Smithcraft hall."

     "Hurt _worse_ , you mean?" Jarod snorted. "Besides, what do _you_ have to be sorry about? Unless you were the one who pushed the rock on my leg--and if so, I'm afraid just saying 'sorry' isn't going to be enough to cut it."

     "No, it wasn't me," Menolly sighed.

     "Good," Jarod barked. "I'd hate to find out someone with so many pretty friends did that to me. As for my little dance with Ryuu--I was surprised. And the other day at Robinton's office--I won't make those mistakes again," he finished with all seriousness.

     "But what can you do?" Menolly asked. "He's got a dragon, a gold queen, no less! He's got that device that Piemur said can blow holes in walls the size of dragons!"

     "I damaged that," Jarod pointed out.

     "He might be able to repair it," Menolly told him. "He's got the parts for more of those things!"

     "Oh, for the love of--!" Jarod cursed shaking his head. "You just can't win!"

     "Don't I just know it," Menolly agreed, and Jarod looked at her in surprise. Then he laughed.

     "Well, rest assured, Harper Menolly, I'm _after_ Ryuu!" Jarod told her. Her fire-lizards whimpered with concern, making her stare at them. "When it's all over, either Ryuu will be finished, or this harper will be!"

     "In the meantime," Jarod said, struggling to get to his feet, so that he could check the distance viewer, "I've got observations to do." Menolly got busy gathering up her supplies and records.

     "Good night, Jarod," she said as she headed for the path. She got a couple of dragonlengths down when she heard him exclaim.

     "Flying Mother Flaming Fucks!" Jarod yelled.

     "What's wrong?" she asked, rushing back.

     "Clouds, coming in thick!" Jarod sighed in disgust, waving a hand at the oncoming obscuration just coming over the mountains. "And I just got up here," he muttered, sitting down in defeat.

     "Wow," Menolly whispered. "Going to be a squall tonight."

     "You didn't by any chance drag that storm behind you from Southern?" Jarod quipped.

     "This one's not mine!" she laughed. "I'd recognize _that one_ anywhere! This must be one of yours. Well, there's not much point for you staying up here." He looked up at her, then at his leg, then out over the Weyr.

     "Right!" Jarod replied.

     "Don't worry," she told him. "Jaxom's your relief tonight, right?" He nodded. "Well, he'll need to be informed his watch is canceled. I'll ask him to come and pick us both up." She spoke to Beauty and instructed her to relay the message. "We wait," she finished after her queen left.

     "Thanks!" he said as she sat down beside him.

     "Look, I know we sort of got off on the wrong foot," Jarod began. "Kind of ironic, since I don't have half a foot to get off on," he waved at his hand at his leg. Then he winced. "Was that as bad a pun as that sounded?" he asked.

     "Yes!" she laughed. "So where did you apprentice?"

     "At the Hall, until my voice broke five Turns ago. My master recommended me as a runner and later Traller picked me to help him." He stopped and blinked in surprise. "In fact, it's been just a little over five Turns since I left the Hall. Last day of the fourth month."

     " _What?_ " Menolly exclaimed. "That was the day _I_ arrived!"

     "Really?" Jarod asked, surprised. " _That_ was _you_? Whoa!" he said, impressed.

     "Anyhow, pretty much nothing I can talk about until my leg got busted," he continued. "I managed to crawl to Nabol where my knee healed as much as it's going to. I made a brace for my leg and walked--limped--back to Fort. The rest, as they say, is history. Master Traller recommended me to Wansor, and here I am. So! What about you? You came in on the day I left, and--?"

     "And I had a pretty wild sevenday before I made journeyman," Menolly said, blushing.

     " _You_ made journeyman in _just a sevenday_?" Jarod exclaimed. "Oh, now, _this_ , I've got to hear!"

     "Maybe later," Menolly said getting to her feet. "Here comes Jaxom." She helped him to his feet as Ruth landed.

     "Now that was pretty badly timed," Jarod said to Jaxom.

     "What?" Jaxom asked startled. Ruth also blinked in surprise.

     _We did not_ time _it!_ the dragon said. _And I always know_ when _I am! I'm very good at_ timing _!_

     "I'm not sure that's what he's talking about, Ruth," Jaxom muttered after seeing their expressions.

     "What's that, Lord Jaxom?" Jarod asked.

     "He didn't like you disparaging his timing skills," Jaxom said.

     "Oh! Sorry, Ruth," Jarod apologized with a bow. "It was another kind of timing."

     "I'd say it was rather good timing," Menolly drolly commented. "Any later, and we'd be getting wet."

     _What other kind of_ timing _could there be?_ Ruth wondered.

     "I don't think we should ask," Jaxom said after a pause. "Would you both want to come to Ruatha? I know it's too late for Menolly to go back to the Harperhall and it'd be better than sleeping in the guest weyrs here. What about you, Jarod?"

     "That sounds good," he said, looking at Menolly to see if she'd be agreeable. "Thank you very much, Lord Jaxom. And Menolly could continue with that historic account."

     "I don't think we should impose on Jaxom," she said. "Especially not for something as insignificant as that!"

     "It's no imposition at all," Jaxom said. "But now, you've piqued my curiosity. Historic account? Insignificant?"

     "You're going to pay for that," Menolly told Jarod under her breath.

     "I already have," Jarod chuckled as he helped her up.

     She climbed up behind Jaxom. Jarod slid his cane under his belt, but then stopped and looked down at his leg then up at Ruth, who had his left profile to him.

     "Uh--I think maybe better from the other side," he said apologetically. He went around behind Ruth and then considered how best to climb. Ruth obligingly brought out his right arm and deeply lowered his forequarters.

     "I hope this bracing doesn't hurt him," Jarod said, planting his right foot down on Ruth's arm. He kicked up with his left leg and both Jaxom and Menolly grabbed his hands and pulled him up as Ruth whimpered. Menolly quickly scooted back to make room for Jarod between her and Jaxom.

     "Did I hurt him?" Jarod asked aghast.

     "No," Jaxom reassured him. "Ruth says that your leg hurts very badly. He can feel how you're hurt!"

     "My leg?" Jarod asked Menolly. "That's news to me."

     _He's also--surprisingly heavy!_ Ruth added glancing back at them.

     "Are we too heavy? Can you carry us?" Jaxom anxiously asked.

     _I can carry all of you,_ Ruth said. _He's just--heavier than I expected._

     "Well, I doubt I weigh as much as Fandarel," Jarod said after Jaxom passed him Ruth's words.

     _I wouldn't be so sure,_ Ruth muttered, preparing to drop into the bowl. This time, Jaxom didn't pass Ruth's message.

     "Oh--how I hate flying!" Jarod moaned getting nervous as Ruth approached the edge.

     "Don't worry," Jaxom said. "Dragons can always fly."

     "Uh-huh," Jarod muttered. "So, Lord Jaxom, what holds a dragon up in the air?"

     "His wings, of course!" Jaxom laughed. At that moment, Ruth leapt out into the darkness.

     "C-can you do me a favor?" Jarod shouted. "Take a look under his wings and tell me what you see."

     "Nothing's there!" Jaxom instantly said.

     "That's my point. Nothing's holding this dragon up!"

     "Of course there is!" Jaxom chuckled. "There's air!"

     "Oh," Jarod calmly muttered. Then just before Ruth took them _between_ , he asked, "Then is that why we're falling like a rock?" Jaxom burst out laughing just as they jumped.

     They came out of _between_ above Ruatha with Jaxom coughing and wheezing. Jarod had to slap Jaxom on his back.

     "M-make a note, Ruth!" Jaxom said, getting his breath back. "No more going _between_ if someone says something funny!"

     Just then, Jarod started hissing and screaming, urging them to land quickly. They did so in the small courtyard, and Jarod threw himself off Ruth. He hit the ground hard, but it didn't seem to faze him as he fumbled with his trousers.

     "Get them off! _Get them OFF!_ " he urged. Jaxom jumped down and helped him even as he exchanged confused looks with Menolly. Then they saw his right leg was encased in a metal cage. Jarod quickly undid the straps and wrenched the brace open and rolled away.

     "Frostbite!" Jarod gave as an explanation while he rubbed the skin of his thigh where the brace had been. "I forgot how cold _between_ is!" Even in the darkness, they could see how bad his knee was and they grimaced in sympathy.

     In a few minutes, the cold metal had warmed enough for Jarod to put the brace back on.

     "I thi----ink I better--get--this thing fur-lined before I get on a dragon again!" he said, grimacing as he shifted his leg into the cage. They helped him get back into his trousers and Jaxom picked up his cane. Or tried to.

     "Shells!" he exclaimed when he put enough pull to pick it up. "No wonder Ruth was complaining about how heavy you are!"

     Jarod grinned, and then took one look at Menolly staring at him and burst out laughing.

     "What's so funny?" she asked.

     "Well, now you know the secret of my sense of humor," Jarod said. Then added, "or lack of it!"

 

     "So you're the one who made the 'Fire-lizard' song," Jarod said with admiration. "I'd like to hear you sing it sometime."

     Menolly groaned as Jaxom brought in the klah and meatrolls and joined them in his quarters.

     "Ah, I take it you get that a lot, huh?" Jarod asked, taking some of the klah. He poured only a third of a cup for himself.

     "I don't mind singing it, but it's as if I never did any other songs," she said, rolling her eyes. "What about you?"

     "I only did some tunings," Jarod said dismissively of his own skills. "Something to occupy myself when doing message runs."

     "Master Robinton taught me to appreciate my skill," Menolly said pointedly.

     "Well, you've got real talent and skill to show off," Jarod countered, making her blush. "Okay, I play for you, if you play for me," Jarod said, pulling out a single-reed flute from his vest.

     "I don't have any words to go with this," Jarod apologized. "It's just an endless, mindless tuning to pass the time."

     He played a couple of measures of a fast-paced ditty as Jaxom and Menolly listened. Several of her fire-lizards started to join in, but they were too late, and were disappointed when Jarod stopped.

     "That's nice!" Menolly told him.

     "Well, that was before my accident," Jarod said sadly.

     He played another measure, this time slower, with lower notes, but Menolly and Jaxom looked at each other in confusion. They both realized they had never heard that tune, but it was still familiar. This time, Beauty and the others were ready, jumping in with the first slow, sad notes.

     "Same tune," Jarod said, answering their unasked questions. "Just a slower tempo and lower notes," he said grinning.

     "That's amazing!" Jaxom said.

     "It seemed so sad." Menolly was astonished. "Such a simple change can have that profound effect?"

     "Try this," Jarod said, bringing the flute to his mouth once more. He played the same, slow paced sequence, but with slightly more power. The fire-lizards' eyes were flashing with flecks of orange when he was done.

     "It's like--something--describing a building determination," Jaxom said.

     "That's exactly what that was," Menolly agreed. "That was very beautiful. Thank you, Jarod."

     "Simple changes to a simple tuning," Jarod stated. He grinned as he handed her the flute. "Your turn!"

     Menolly played her 'Fire-lizard' song, and her entire fair enthusiastically joined in.

     "That was marvelous!" Jarod exclaimed, adding his applause to Jaxom's when she finished. "And they just spontaneously learned to do that?"

     "Yes," Menolly said, blushing. "Sometimes, they can be a little too eager."

     "Well, you shouldn't dissuade them," Jarod said. "They have such beautiful singing voices. Almost as good as their mistress. Thank you!"

     After an awkward moment, Jaxom cleared his throat and suggested they all get some sleep. Not wishing to impose on Brand or Lytol, he set them in separate spare rooms before going to his own bed near Ruth.

 

Late 1987, Terra, onboard the _USS Daniels, CG-27_ :

     "Get your ass out of that bunk, Trevar!" Chief Mosley, the ship's corpsman, yelled slapping the side of the sailor's rack. "We all know you're faking it!"

     "They're coming! They're coming!" the sailor screamed, delirious with pain. Allec Trevar writhed in agony, holding his head in his hands. It had been nearly three days since he started feeling the headaches, since coming off his last watch Saturday night. Sunday was spent all day in bed, restless with increasing pain. Monday morning saw him waking everyone before reveille with his screaming. Grumbling, the other sailors left him there to miss roll call. After they could no longer stand hearing his cries, the morning cleaning crew called the branch chief and the corpsman.

     Mosley pulled Trevar out of his bunk and stood him up between himself and Chief Richards.

     "How do you know he's faking?" Richards, Trevar's section chief, asked, pulling a pair of slacks with Trevar's name off the hook by the bunk. They helped him dress.

     "Rhah-h-h!" Trevar screamed, nearly collapsing with his pants half on.

     "No fever," Mosley said, not bothering to feel for the sailor's temperature. "The man's just had a physical before we left for this cruise and passed with flying colors."

     "If he's faking, where are we taking him?" Richards asked as they finished dressing the screaming sailor.

     "To the Brig," Mosley spat, hauling Trevar towards the door. "Just listen to him! Bucking for a Section Eight! Alright, 'Corporal Klinger'," Mosley yelled at Trevar, "just who the fuck is 'coming'? Hmm?"

     Trevar suddenly stood up. His right hand shot out to grip the door lever to support him, the other grabbed Mosley's forearm. Richard's hearing caught a sound almost buried by the whine of the ship's engines and Mosley's scream of pain. The added noise was a strange sound he had never heard before, and it chilled him.

     Trevar's eyes bugged out as he whispered with a low growl, "It's too late! _They're here_!" before collapsing unconscious.

     Richards looked at the latch lever just in time to see a faint glow vanish where Trevar had gripped it. He gingerly reached for it, and quickly pulled his hand away from the tremendous heat. He looked closer, seeing the imprint of the sailor's grip left in the steel. He shook his head in disbelief, but the image didn't vanish.

     "Sonofabitchbrokemyarm!" Mosley whimpered, holding his left arm.

     _Serves the bastard right,_ Richards thought, looking at the corpsman with disdain. Mosley was the darling of the Command Master Chief, a machinist mate, because he was gunning to change rates to engineering. _That would be good for the crew,_ Richards felt, _because the man was a menace as the ship's doctor._

 

     "Captain on the Bridge!" the boatswain called out.

     "Sir, sorry about getting you out of bed so early," the Officer of the Deck, Lieutenant Benson said, "but Navigation and Communications are both out! I've got our technicians working on the problem."

     "Backups, too?" Captain Sutton asked.

     "Everything, sir" Benson replied. "Just as this fog set in. All communications: satellite, HF and short wave reception, even GPS timing. Also, the satellite navigation, Loran, inertial guidance, compass--"

     " _Compass_?" Captain Sutton exclaimed, looking at the dial on the ship's wheel. It was meandering every which way.

     "Yes, sir, the compass," Benson reported. "The only thing working is surface radar, still showing that cruise liner behind us and Line of sight communications. We have comms with them and they're saying their navigation and long range communications are out, too."

     "Then it's not _us!_ " Sutton said. "Something outside is jamming us. Tell our technicians to stand down. I don't want them messing something up that isn't broke trying to troubleshoot the problem!"

     "There's no known way to jam _everything_ , sir," Benson protested.

     "Well, then it looks like somebody's just found an _unknown way_ _!_ " Sutton said, looking at the readout for the inertial guidance. It was showing a pitch of seventy-eight degrees and a course of two forty-seven. From what he understood about the equipment that would indicate either the ship had been picked up and held that way, or something's scrambled the electronics and calibration. He was betting on the latter, as that would explain the loss of the other electronics. _EMP, maybe?_ Sutton wondered.

     "What about sonar?" he asked.

     "There're no returns, sir," Benson reported.

     " _No returns?_ " Sutton exclaimed. "Not even bottom?"

     "Nothing, sir," Benson replied. "It's as if something is absorbing the sound without reflecting anything. Again, we get returns from that cruise liner, and they have their own sonar pinging away. There are no echoes from their pings."

 

Cait, in the 15 Lyncis system:

     "Safety Officer Q'RrTss to the Bridge!" the intercom announced. The big Caitian sighed, looking up from his checklist of a routine water quality inspection to stretch. "Duty calls," he said, smiling to the female crewman standing by while he did his work.

     "On my way," he said, signaling the intercom. Leaving the engineering section, he headed for the outside of the ship to take advantage of the sun on his way to report to the captain. He quickly bounded up the six flights of stairs, barely breathing hard when he stepped through the door to the Passenger Deck. Then he stopped, stunned by what he saw. It made his ears lie back and fur stand on end, instinctively making him bare his long canine teeth.

     Outside, there was fog, so thick he couldn't see more than three paces. He could hear other passengers and crew nervously muttering somewhere in the soup. No doubt that was why they were calling for him. Unhesitant, he stepped out, heading for the Bridge. He knew the ship better than he knew his own home, and could negotiate his way from anywhere to anywhere blind if he knew from where he was starting. But after several steps, he stopped again, confused. There was something very strange about this fog.

     Not only was it the wrong time of year, wrong location, and wrong weather conditions for such fog to exist, but also there was something strange about the substance itself. For one, it was warm. He waved his hand about and tested the tips of his fingers and then his fur on his arm. Both were dry. His nose wrinkled, searching for an explanation. It just didn't _smell_ like fog. No humidity, no metallic scent from the ship rusting in damp air, nothing like one would expect from these conditions. He quickened his pace, resuming his travel to the Bridge.

 

     "This isn't fog!" he said, bursting in from the Wing-deck door to the Bridge, surprising several Caitians looking expectantly at another, interior, door.

     "That's not all," Captain M'leer said, approaching him. "All navigation, radar, sonar, and communications systems are dead. It happened just as the fog set in. That's why we called you."

     "That's impossible," he said to her, his slitted pupils widening. He went to station after station, checking out the equipment. One, by one, they all checked out in working order. Only there seemed to be nothing outside for the systems to interact with. He finished his check at the sonar station and got the same results. Still not satisfied, he looked about the Bridge. He stepped over to a maintenance panel, lifting the covering plate off the console, and handed it to a crewman.

     "Do me a favor," he said to the orderly. "Throw that off the back of the ship."

     "Sir?" the crewman asked.

     "I want to test the sonar," Q'RrTss said. "I think I know what's going on. I just want to confirm it." The crewman left with the panel.

     "What have you found out?" M'leer asked.

     "We'll know in a few moments," Q'RrTss said, watching the scope. "There!" he said pointing at the blip that just appeared. "Three yil-Step, Six yil-Step," he said, counting off. "Echo strength is fading! One point one kil-Step, One point four--it's gone!"

     "Could the angle of plate reflect the signal away?" M'leer asked.

     "No," Q'RrTss explained. "This test has been done before and works every time. The panel flutters down like a feather. I should be getting intermittent echoes all the way to the ocean bottom. No. It's just faded from view, like going into the fog! All of the equipment is the same way. It's as if there is some kind of obscuring fog existing in every media the systems use."

 

Elsewhere:

     "We need answers, Gentlemen, and we need them three days ago," Captain Sutton said concluding the morning briefing. "Dismissed."

     All the Department Heads, save the Communications Officer, stood up and departed. Lieutenant Jenkins scowled at having to bring one up more annoying matter to further burden his captain.

     "I'm sorry we can't be of more help, Captain Marshal," Sutton said to the cruise line skipper. "But I think it's best if we don't depart this area until at least one of our systems comes up well enough to navigate out of this fog.

     "Ain't never seen fog like this," Marshal complained. Sutton nodded.

     "Me, either," Sutton said, seeing the man out the door. A seaman escort took charge of the skipper from there on. "Yes, Commo?" Sutton asked the man still sitting at the table.

     "Sir," Jenkins cautiously began, "seeing as how _this_ emergency has become something of a routine, I was hoping you could help with another little emergency with one of my men in the Brig."

     "I don't have anyone in the Brig," Sutton said after thinking about the matter, and realizing he hadn't sent anyone there recently. Since the loss of communications and navigation on both ships, he hadn't time to conduct Captain's Mast.

     "No, sir, you don't," Jenkins said, shaking his head. "Chief Mosley, however, does." Sutton had to sigh.

 

     Trevar's screaming finally stopped. The man standing guard over the prisoner was dreading another shift with the lunatic screaming "They're here!" repeatedly, or just screaming in apparent agony. But after a few minutes of blessed silence, Seaman Mitchell had a dreadful feeling. He looked in on Trevar.

     The petty officer was sitting on his bunk with his back propped against the corner of the room, staring at the door with a vacant look in his eyes.

     "You okay, Petty Officer Trevar?" he asked with genuine concern. Mitchell thought it was a shitty way of treating a man. Anyone could see that Trevar needed some sort of medical help, not incarceration. But Chief Mosley wasn't a doctor, but a corpsman, although most of the ship's crew would argue he wasn't qualified for _that_ either.

     " _We're_ here!" Trevar hoarsely whispered before closing his eyes. The statement scared the hell out of Mitchell. It was bad enough for the ship to be sitting dead in the water for three days, waiting for this blasted fog to lift. But to have one of the crew acting as if some sort of demons were the cause of it, then like throwing a switch, finding you're trapped--

     "Captain on Deck!" somebody yelled, and Mitchell stood away from the door. Captain Sutton followed another officer into the holding area.

     "Sir!" Mitchell shouted, saluting. "One prisoner assigned to the Brig! One prisoner in custody! Sir!"

     "Get Chief Mosley down here immediately!" Captain Sutton growled, waving away the salute. "Open it up!"

     "Sir," Mitchell said and he produced the key and proceeded to open the cell door, "Petty Officer Trevar has been screaming in pain since he got here. He's just stopped. I was checking on him when you arrived."

     "My God!" Sutton exclaimed, when he saw Trevar's condition. The man was soaked in sweat in his T-shirt and dungaree pants. He looked to be dead tired, barely able to hold his eyes open.

     "He hasn't eaten anything, sir," Mitchell put forward. "We've given him water at shift change, but he's had a hard time taking it, with his headache and all."

     "Are you okay, son?" Sutton asked. Trevar looked at him as if trying to identify him.

     " _We're_ here," Trevar said, without seeming to recognize what was going on. "It's too late. _We've arrived!_ "

     "Get Mosley down here now, damn it!" Sutton yelled. Mitchell rushed to dial the phone.

     "Captain to the Bridge!" the call came over the 1MC, as Sutton and Jenkins were helping Trevar out of the cell to the outer holding area. They set him down in a chair, and Sutton stepped over to the desk just as Mitchell hung up. Jenkins fetched the man some water, and Trevar guzzled it greedily.

     "Chief Mosley's on his way, sir," Mitchell reported, as the Captain picked up the receiver to make his own call.

     "Sutton here," the captain said to the man answering the phone.

     "Sir," Ensign Lynch said. "Officer of the Deck reporting. We're getting returns from our radar! We're in the middle of some islands. And the fog's beginning to lift."

     "Understood," Sutton said. "I'll be up in a few."

     "Sir!" Lynch persisted. "There _aren't_ any islands in this part of the ocean!"

     "Understood. I said I'll be up in a few," Sutton repeated. "Notify Captain Marshal on the _Princess Amoré_ about the radar."

     Just then, Chief Mosley arrived, taking in the scene.

     "You wanted to see me, Captain?" he asked, glaring at Trevar and Jenkins. His arm, still in the sling, ached, and he worked his hand to ease the pain.

     "Yes, Chief," Sutton said, motioning him to follow. The captain led him into the cell.

     "Chief, can I borrow this?" Sutton softly asked, taking the anchor insignia from Mosley's collar. Sutton looked at for a few minutes, pursing his lips.

     "Chief," he finally asked, holding up the badge, "what is this? What does it signify?"

     "I-it signifies I'm a CPO," Mosley nervously said then quickly remembered to add, "Sir!" He worried about what Trevar or Jenkins might have told the captain.

     Sutton glanced at him, noting the delay. Sighing, he reached up to his own collar to remove one of his captain's insignia and looked at it, comparing the eagle to the fouled anchor design.

     "And what does this signify?" Sutton asked, holding up the eagle.

     "That you-you're the Captain, sir," Mosley quickly said. Sutton nodded, apparently pleased at the answer. Sutton looked at them again, then held them both up, side-by-side.

     "So can you tell me the difference between them?" Sutton asked. "Do they resemble each other in any way? Shape? Color? Design? That sort of thing?"

     "N-no, sir?" Mosley gulped. _What had Trevar said to the captain?_ he wondered.

     "Uh--well, maybe it's the duties and authority that come with the offices," Sutton continued. "Are there any similarities in the jobs? The responsibilities?"

     "No, sir," Mosley replied. Sutton nodded, apparently understanding. The captain replaced his eagle to his collar, after first making a show of confirming which was which. Mosley was about to venture with his own question when the captain spoke again.

     "So pray tell me, _Chief_ ," Sutton asked with a sigh, "why is that man in the Brig?"

     "Sir!" Mosley snapped to attention. He had rehearsed for the several days on how he would proudly report this malfeasance. "Petty Officer Trevar was faking an illness in a vain attempt to get a Section Eight discharge!"

     "Chief," Sutton said, interrupting. "Understand, this: only the CO of a ship can authorize someone held in confinement. Now I have known of Chiefs, even First Class Petty Officers who are CO's of their own ships, but even they have to defer to an _Commissioned_ Officer when requesting a crewman be confined. Now you are not the CO of this ship. _I_ am! And I _never_ authorized this man's confinement!

     "Second, a _real_ faker for a Section Eight would not put himself through that kind of self-torture. Now I don't know if he really was shooting for an Insanity Discharge, and neither do you. But it looks more to me that he was suffering from some _real_ injury, something perhaps physical, maybe even mental, but not faking an illness."

     "But you don't have the medical training for making such an evaluation, sir," Mosley spoke up.

     "Neither do you, chief!" Sutton countered. "You're not a psychiatrist! You're not even a real _doctor_! You're a corpsman!"

     "Chief Corpsman, sir," Mosley corrected.

     "That's right," Sutton said, taking the chief's good hand, and slapping the chief's insignia into his palm. " _Chief_ Corpsman," he said over the noise of the backings for the pin dropping to the floor. Sutton spun about and marched out of the cell, slamming the door shut behind him as Mosley was bent over trying to pull the anchor pin from his palm.

     The chief rushed to the door, but found it was automatically locked.

     "Sir!" Mosley cried as Sutton went over to help Jenkins with Trevar. "You can't have me put in the Brig without a formal Captain's Mast!"

     "For your information, _Chief_ ," Sutton growled, " _you've just had one!_ Seaman--Mitchell," Sutton said, glancing at the man's name on his shirt, " _now_ you have one prisoner assigned to the Brig."

     "Yes, _sir_!" Mitchell yelled, saluting and trying not to grin.

     "Nights begin and end at forty-five," Trevar suddenly spoke out.

     "What?" Jenkins asked, startled. Sutton was confused, too.

     "There are suns are everywhere overhead," Trevar continued, apparently unaware of who he was speaking to. "And the nights begin and end at forty-five."

     "Captain to the Bridge! Captain to the Bridge!" Lynch's panicked voice shouted over the 1MC.

     "Now what?" Sutton asked.

 

Elsewhere:

     The signals were the strangest thing he'd ever heard. There was a staccato whine that pulsed in volume every swish-and-a-half on both frequencies being transmitted.

     "What do you make of that?" S'Vrr asked Q'RrTss.

     "Nothing I've ever heard of," the taller Caitian replied. "It's like some sort of emergency beacon. Look at the power reading of that transmitter! But it doesn't make sense. That frequency is just barely beyond Line-Of-Sight. If that power was put into a distance-refracting frequency, it would go around the world several times before diminishing."

     "The reflections must be gagging their receiver with hairballs," S'Vrr muttered.

     "What did you say?" Q'RrTss asked, snapping to glare at the Communications Officer.

     "At that frequency, they would be getting reflections from every rock, hunk of metal, and a few other things," S'Vrr said, puzzled by what he said wrong.

     Q'RrTss' eyes glazed over for a few moments. "That's it," he finally said, snapping out of his trance. "That's not a communication signal at all. _That's a scanner!_ "

     "What?" S'Vrr asked, astonished. "Who would be using this frequency for that?"

     "Nothing Caitian!" Q'RrTss hissed. "Kill all outgoing transmissions! All scanners, all beacons, and all calls! Then get some of my people to search and confiscate all transceivers from passengers and crew. From now on, all communications on the ship are by internal wire or foot." He departed to make his report to the captain, leaving S'Vrr to stand there with his tail bushed out in dread.

 

     "Captain M'leer, we have to talk!" Q'RrTss whispered into her ear. She watched him exit the Bridge through the wing deck, puzzled that of all the people on the ship, he seemed the only one not terrified by the fact they were no longer on Cait.

     "What is it?" she asked, catching up to him as he climbed to the upper levels for their privacy.

     "I think we're being hunted," he said after making sure no one was about. He looked up into the strange sky, at the close to three kil other satellites visible even under the glare of artificial daylight from the orbiting spotlight overhead.

     "Everyone suspected that the first time we saw the sun zip across the sky and then turn off!" she hissed.

     "I mean we're being hunted in the same manner as some of these rich mental deviants go to staged game preserves," he spat, gesturing to the nervous passengers. "Only _we're_ the Prey! And the Predators are intentionally disadvantaging themselves to hunt us down!"

     "What?" M'leer exclaimed.

     "S'Vrr has detected a scanning device being used on some of our normal communications frequencies," Q'RrTss explained. "It's coming from the other side of that island," he said, pointing. "Now the beings that brought us here obviously know how to find us. They know exactly where we are. They set us down _right here_! So now why go to the trouble of looking for us when they know where they put us?"

     M'leer's ears drooped in dread.

     " _Some_ of them _don't_ know exactly where we are," she said, realizing his point. "They're giving us a 'sporting' chance! We're the entertainment for a decadent species!"

     "I've given orders that all transmissions be halted," Q'RrTss said. "That will give us some time to evade and prepare defenses. However, it won't be long before some of the passengers comprehend what's going on and start to go spastic."

     "What do you intend to do?" M'leer asked. Q'RrTss' pupils had grown wide and his tail was whipping back and forth as he paced the deck.

     "If they want a hunt," he softly growled, "I'll _give_ them a hunt!"

 

Elsewhere:

     Trevar slowly regained his awareness and overheard Captain Sutton ordering the ship to Battle Stations.

     "I should get to my post," Trevar said, struggling to stand on his own feet.

     "Not with you in the shape you're in, son," Sutton quickly told him. "Are you hungry?" Trevar quickly nodded.

     "Sir, what happened? What did Lynch say?" Jenkins asked.

     "It looks like Earth is facing an invasion," Sutton replied. The fog's lifted and there are a couple dozens of objects overhead.

     "No, sir," Trevar spoke up. "We're not on Earth."

     "How do you know that, Petty Officer Trevar?" Jenkins asked.

     "We've been taken," Trevar replied. "We've arrived."

     "Arrived? Arrived where?" Sutton demanded.

     " _THEIR_ Homeworld," Trevar sighed, nearly collapsing.

     "Those objects above us are the ones who took us?" Sutton pressed. Trevar shook his head.

     "You don't understand, sir," Trevar whispered.

     "He's delirious, sir," Jenkins told the captain.

     "Perhaps," Sutton said, considering what he'd been told. "But we don't have any other sources of information. Get him something to eat. If his information pans out, I'll come back to see him. Right now, I've got to get to the Bridge. The crew is going to be bad enough. I'd hate to see how the passengers on that cruise liner are going to respond when they find out."

 

     MA1 Mathews looked up from his station on the Mess Deck to see Lieutenant Jenkins escort Petty Officer Trevar into his presence and left orders for the Master At Arms to see to it Trevar got food and water while the officer proceeded to his station.

     Petty Officer Mathews wasn't thrilled about having the "psycho screamer," as Chief Mosley aptly dubbed Trevar, fostered upon him. The man was trouble ever since his request to be put in a "non-smoking berthing" as soon as he came onboard. Then Mathews noted the odd way in which the man spent his off duty time with his nose constantly stuck in a Sci-Fi book and listening to God only knew what music on his headphones. Trevar also studiously ignored all sports on TV whenever anything was playing, and then the man had the audacity to bring in some devil worshiping books he claimed was just a game and began recruiting some of the crew to participate. Mathews warned them that such activity would not be tolerated, but they had ignored his instructions and they found various locations to conduct their dark mass practices, and most times Mathews was unable to locate them before they had finished and broke up. But he knew they were still doing it.

     As soon as Lieutenant Jenkins had left, Mathews promptly took the tray of food from Trevar.

     "If the crew can't eat," Mathews spat, "then you can't, either!" Trevar didn't say anything as he glared back in disgust. Instead, throwing his fork on the table, Trevar backed his chair away and stood. Mathews stood his ground, holding the food tray, knowing Trevar was too weak to do any damage. He wanted Trevar to start something so bad. It would give him the excuse to pound the arrogant prick senseless. Instead, Trevar turned to walk away.

     "Where the hell do you think you're going?" Mathews demanded.

     "What does it matter to you?" Trevar muttered over his shoulder.

     "Don't you turn your back on me, mister!" Mathews emphasized by slamming the food tray on the table.

     "And what are you going to do?" Trevar asked, still walking away. "Throw me in the Brig?"

     "Damned straight!" Mathews said, advancing on Trevar.

     "Go ahead," Trevar calmly said, reaching the sloping ladder to the next level up and the door to the outside. "Look where that got Chief Mosley. He's there right now where Captain Sutton left him." The statement stopped Mathews cold, and Trevar went outside without any further resistance.

 

     Glancing up at the sky, Trevar saw the same thing the other crew had seen. The 'sun' that had been overhead had just moved far enough to the side, that it became evident this was no sun. Rather, it seemed to be a terrifyingly huge spotlight in orbit above whatever planet they were on, with countless other such huge spotlights, which could still be seen during the times of artificial daylight, drifting about the horizon.

     Except Trevar wasn't terrified. But he was mildly impressed by the view. And Trevar alone knew, that not only was this world not Earth, this wasn't a planet, either. As the sky darkened, he could make out a fuzzy patch of light overhead. The patch grew in brightness, size, and complexity until the details could clearly be seen: a swirling cloud that was slowly spiraling down some gigantic drain in the bright heart.

     Of course, it had been doing so since time began. But that didn't diminish the impressive sight of the Milky Way Galaxy. The only thing that helped to tear his eyes from the sight was the knowledge the view wasn't going away any time soon. Right now, it was more important to make his effort to accomplish what he had been summoned to do.

     He looked over to the nearby island, about four miles from where the ships sat. Grimly, he considered his condition. He had only gotten a few bites before Mathews took his food away. Trevar knew he only had a few hours of strength left and was running on adrenaline. Swimming was out of the question.

     He made his way to the midship's lifeboats. One of the ship's watch was at his battle station, but keeping his eyes locked on the sights above and not on the surface approach of the _Daniels_. Trevar knew him in passing. Seaman Gonzales was a striker working in First Division.

     "Nice weather we're having," Trevar said, grinning, as he looked at the instructions for the lifeboat launcher.

     "Where in God's name are we?" Seaman Gonzales whispered.

     "About three hundred thousand light years from the Milky Way," Trevar replied after stopping to consider the question. "Of course, there's probably another forty to fifty thousand light years to Earth. It should be over to the left side of our view from here."

     "What?" Gonzales asked, not expecting such an answer. "How can you know that?"

     "Just a wild guess," Trevar said, shrugging his shoulders, and finished reading the lifeboat instructions. He figured out what he needed to do as Gonzales resumed looking at the sky.

     The loud crack, followed by a rumbling and a splash, snapped Gonzales out of his trance. He looked at horror at what Trevar had done.

     "What are you doing?" Gonzales screamed, astounded. Trevar had leapt to the greasy steel cables running through the pulleys to climb down to the boat bobbing in the water.

     "To look up the folks who brought us here and ask _THEM_ ," Trevar said, cheerfully, setting about to unhook the block and tackle from the boat. "I'm sure _THEY_ can give a more accurate measurement. Want to come along?"

     "Hey!" Gonzales screamed, beginning to panic. "You're going to get us killed!"

     "Well, _THEY_ can hardly expect us to _not_ go and talk with _THEM_ ," Trevar said, shrugging his shoulders. "Not after the effort _THEY_ took to bring us here." Trevar started the boat's engines and waved to Gonzales, driving the boat off as other sailors rushed to see what was going on.

     As the boat sped on, Trevar took the time to step away from the wheel, letting the craft continue on its straight path as he searched for the emergency rations that should be on the lifeboat. He found the MREs and potable water, and while not too keen on their taste, eagerly started in on one of the packages, confident he could replenish his strength with two or six of them.

 

The island:

     Q'RrTss walked up to the beach after swimming to the island. His people couldn't quite understand his fascination with water, but Q'RrTss was one to live up to his name.

     He looked back at his ship, now underway to find a place of concealment. He nodded in approval, and trudged on to shore.

     He pulled his receiver from the waterproof satchel to check the aliens were still sending their strange signals and headed inland.

 

     Chief Mosley led the rescue party, consisting of Mathews, Gonzales, and three other seamen. The captain was not pleased when he heard about Trevar leaving the ship. He offered Mosley an opportunity to redeem himself if he helped retrieve Trevar alive and unharmed, and promised a full investigation if anything happened to him.

     Privately, however, Mosley instructed Mathews that if Trevar resisted, they would defend themselves with lethal force, if necessary.

     "What if he doesn't resist?" Mathews asked, loading his pistol.

     "He left the ship, didn't he?" Mosley laughed. "That's 'resisting'! Wouldn't you agree we should take _necessary_ precautions?" His emphasis was not very subtle. Nor was his meaning.

     "Yes," Mathews said, nodding. "Very much necessary!" When they got to shore, Mosley ordered everyone to split up in teams of two. He had spotted Trevar's trail and chose that route, directing the other teams up and down the shore. Mathews went with him.

 

     Q'RrTss heard the approaching creature rampaging through the brush, and quickly hid. It was several moments before it came into view. He could see it was a strange specimen. Mostly furless, save for a shorthaired mat on its head, and wearing dirty, grease-stained and shredded fabrics covering its chest, hips and legs. There was no tail, the Caitian noted. No claws on its long fingers, it seemed either. And the creature's ears were small and deformed looking. It was drenched in sweat and stank. Q'RrTss could smell it even this far away and not directly upwind of where he hid.

     It paused in the clearing, heaving and panting, looking about with a wild expression in its eyes. There were some other animal noises approaching from where it had come, and it looked back that way before rushing off up the hill, disappearing into the brush.

     _Poor varshit,_ Q'RrTss thought. _We aren't the only ones being hunted._

     The creature's pursuers soon arrived. There were two of them. More of the same type of creatures. Although the big one, who was a least fifty percent larger than the other, had a much darker colored hide than its partner or the one they hunted. They were also out of breath and drenched in sweat, calling out in some strange bestial language. The smaller of the two saw the first one's tracks and led the pursuit. He also noted how these two wore fabric much like the first, but seemed less dirty and damaged.

     _What the hairball?_ Q'RrTss wondered. _Are these the ones hunting us? And they have time to hunt themselves?_ He saw that these two had some devices in their hands. _Weapons, perhaps?_ he surmised.

     Suddenly, from out of the brush, the first one leapt, hitting the big one feet-first. Q'RrTss never saw it coming. Obviously, neither did the big one, as it fell down the hill, crashing through the brush. The blow knocked the device from the big one's grip, but the pursued one didn't bother with it, as the creature instantly whirled upon the other. The hunted one, screaming in near-perfect Caitian, "I'll rip your lungs out!" lunged for the other, knocking the device from its hand as well, and the hunter scampered away, repeatedly screaming a hissing-sounding word in their language. Q'RrTss sneered a grin to expose one canine. He could well imagine what that word meant.

     The pursued one surveyed the damage it had caused, and relaxed its fighting stance, apparently satisfied with the results. With a heaving sigh, the creature seemed to regain its strength from the exhausting run it must have endured and straightened its posture. After stepping over to retrieve the objects dropped by the others, it stuck them haphazardly into its pants waistline.

     Q'RrTss laid his ears back. _If that's the creature's apparent strength, the ability to quickly recover its exhaustion, there might be trouble for us,_ he thought. Also, he had no idea of the beings' normal endurance or physical strength although all three of the creatures seemed rather clumsy during their fight. Of course, that could be attributed to exhaustion.

     "Hello!" the creature suddenly said, looking directly at Q'RrTss. The big Caitian's breath caught in dread at what this being intended. "Hello!" it said again, and then with a quiet whisper, "I won't hurt you. Please be my friend." It turned to leave, going back up the hill, and stopped when it realized it wasn't being followed.

     "I'm puzzled," it said to him. "I won't hurt you. Please be my friend," it repeated. Q'RrTss worked his dry throat. It made a motion that it wanted to continue and wished Q'RrTss to follow. "I'm puzzled," it repeated.

     "What do you want?" Q'RrTss demanded, stepping from the brush. "Why did you bring my people here?"

     "I won't hurt you. Please be my friend," it repeated again, resuming its walk.

     Q'RrTss was intensely puzzled, but didn't say so. Might he have been hasty in assuming these were the creatures responsible for their abduction? In which case, there was still one other life form that intended to hunt his people.

     "May I ask what you and your people are called?" Q'RrTss asked.

     "I'm puzzled," it said to him. Q'RrTss blinked in surprise. "I won't hurt you. Please be my friend," it quietly whispered again. Then it tried communicating with its own language, speaking lightly and softly. It continued to walk, swinging its head about, searching for something, but still confidently going forward.

     He was close enough to catch more detail of the creature's scent. Probably male, Q'RrTss concluded. He assumed so when they first arrived, but Q'RrTss couldn't be certain. It stank of its fear and adrenaline from the previous pursuit, but there was an underlying male musk. It puzzled the Caitian that the being had no fear of him whatsoever, and that confused him greatly.

     The creature led him to a cavern, then stopped suddenly, but not for something he sensed from the gigantic passage. The creature spun about, and Q'RrTss thought if they had normal ears, this one's would be lying flat against his skull, as he hissed out his breath. Q'RrTss soon heard the approaching creatures, too.

     "Those assholes just won't give up," he said. Q'RrTss blinked in surprise. The creature had clearly spoken in his own language, but somehow, Q'RrTss understood him.

     "I'm puzzled," Q'RrTss spoke out. The creature glanced at him and curled the corners of his lips. "How am I comprehending your language so suddenly?"

     "Telepathy," the creature replied with amusement. "The force that brought us here is inside," he said, jerking his head toward the cavern. " _THEY_ have decided to facilitate our communication. You and I are of the same blood, just as we are of the same blood as _THEM_."

     "I thought _you_ brought my ship here!" Q'RrTss spat, laying his ears back. "To hunt us!"

     "Not I," the creature said, smiling. "Not my people."

     "Then why do your people hunt you?" The creature's smile vanished.

     "Those idiots have no idea what we're dealing with. _I do,_ " the creature growled. Spinning about, he resumed his march toward the cavern. "And I intend that my people don't interfere with my talking with _THEM_. You better stay with me," he said, looking back at the Caitian standing there. "They will try to kill you if they see you. They already know you're following me. They'll suspect you're some dangerous animal, not an intelligent creature."

     "Who are you? Why don't you fear me?" Q'RrTss demanded, following him into the cave.

     "My name is Trevar. My people are called human. You and I are of the same blood," the creature said, blindly groping about in the darkness. He stopped, pulling the devices from his pants and took cover behind a boulder to wait. Trevar lowered to his knees and crouched down behind the rock. They had a good view of the approach looking out the cave. He motioned Q'RrTss to join him.

     "How about yourself?" Trevar asked.

     "Q'RrTss," he replied.

     "Curtis," Trevar said, trying to repeat, but scowled at his own pronunciation. "K'krrtzz," he said, making another attempt. "Q'RrTxx. Q'RrTss," he said, finally getting it right. "Q'RrTss," he reassured himself with the practice. "It means 'Water lover,' doesn't it?"

     "How do you know that?" Q'RrTss demanded.

     "The concept came across when you said it," the human replied. "I know you got no meaning from my name. My kind still has some sections of our societies where a person's name has a real meaning in the local languages, but not everywhere. Not in mine."

     There was some rustling of the brush and the man grimly readied his devices.

     "Watch your ears when they come in after us," Trevar warned. "These things make an awful racket."

     A few minutes passed, then Q'RrTss saw a total of six of Trevar's people emerge from the brush, being led by the two Trevar fought. This time, those two carried long weapons, the smaller individual seemed to be having an awkward time of it, with one of its arms bound by a sling. Q'RrTss recalled that the creature was wearing it when Trevar attacked them.

     The rocky ground cost the other humans several moments before spotting the cave and finding what scant traces remained leading there.

     "All right, everyone," the larger leader loudly told the others. "Safeties off. Either Trevar's tracking that animal or it's tracking him. Either way, that creature is probably dangerous. The tracks look like some big cat or dog. Shoot to kill!"

     "What the hell is with Trevar, anyhow, Chief Mosley?" one of the new creatures asked.

     "The man's gone schizoid," Mosley said. "He's obviously just as dangerous as the cat. Don't take chances. Anyone got a flashlight? Good!" he said when someone produced one. "Let's go."

     "They don't seem very adept to hunting," Q'RrTss whispered.

     "Quiet," Trevar whispered back. "Watch your ears!" There were ominous clicks as Trevar used his thumbs to pull back small tabs on the devices he carried.

     "What was that about ears?" one of them shouted.

     "Telepathy," Trevar barely whispered into Q'RrTss' ear.

     The others spun about looking for the voices they heard.

     "Man," the big dark one muttered as they stepped into the darkness. "This place is giving me the creeps!" The one with the light nervously swept it about, missing Trevar and Q'RrTss behind the scattered rocks.

     Q'RrTss saw Trevar tense, waiting for them to get far enough in. The pursuers came inside the cave seven Step, il-Step, then il-one. Trevar bared his teeth and nodded, signaling to the Caitian he was about to attack. The man suddenly straightened up to prop the devices on the rocks and aimed.

     Two rapid and very loud explosions sounded, deafening Q'RrTss even as he had his ears laid back.

     "WEAPONS DOWN! WEAPONS DOWN!" Trevar was shouting when Q'RrTss could hear again. "WEAPONS DOWN, NOW!! DON'T YOU FUCKING MOVE, MATHEWS! THIS MEANS YOU, TOO MOSLEY! PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN!" There was silence for several moments before Trevar pulled away from the boulder.

     "Now back up four paces, and only four!" Trevar ordered. "Stop! Turn around, on your knees, and hands on your head."

     "Trevar, you fucking psycho!" Mosley began.

     "Mosley, shut up!" Trevar growled. "The only reason you're not dead is because I'm _not_ psycho. But I _am_ thoroughly pissed at you. Give me any more grief, and I won't be pissed any longer because you'll be dead. Now _DO IT!_ " he shouted.

     As the others waited for Trevar to decide their fate, Trevar stepped forward, putting one of his weapons in his belt. With his free hand, he plucked the small weapons from the ground to toss them behind him toward Q'RrTss. There were five small devices and two long ones. The human slung one long weapon onto his shoulder, and picked up the other and stepped away from his prisoners. He left them the flashlight.

     Back with Q'RrTss, Trevar handed one of the long weapons to him, and put one of his small weapons among the others on the ground. Then he knelt to disassemble the small weapons, removing a flat slab from the handles and shifting the rod to eject a small pellet from each. Then he did something that removed the covering from the rods on each and tossed them all into the darkness of the cave. He laid out the remainder of the devices neatly on the ground. Then Trevar pulled his remaining small weapon from his pants.

     "Alright, you can turn around and pick up your light," Trevar growled. They did so, and gasped in unison when they saw Q'RrTss standing there.

     "You gave _that--thing_ one of our guns?" Mosley shouted. "That's a dangerous alien!"

     "Watch your ears," Trevar said to Q'RrTss. The Caitian quickly slung the device over his shoulder and covered his ears with his hands. Trevar aimed his hand weapon down on each of the guns on the ground and shot once at each gun, shattering the devices.

     When he was finished, his device jammed open. Trevar did his little trick of removing the rod cover and tossed it away like the others. Taking a fist-sized rock, he bashed down on the remains of his hand weapon.

     "Let's go," he said, unslinging his long weapon, and motioned them to proceed down the cave. "Bring your light."

     "What are you going to do?" Mosley asked. "Execute us? To feed us to your friend? They're the ones who brought us here, you know!"

     "No. They didn't," Trevar flatly stated.

     "Where are you taking us?" the Chief demanded.

     "To the ones that did," Trevar calmly replied. "By the way, this guy's not the dangerous alien. _I am!_ "

     "You're going to pay for this, Trevar," Mosley said. "When we get back to the ship, I'll see that you go up on charges of Treason! You'll hang!"

     "Keep moving," Trevar ordered. "And somebody shut that asshole up!"

     "What do you mean that we are of the same blood?" Q'RrTss asked, following with him.

     "We have the same spirit," the human creature tried to explain. His fellow creatures looked nervously back as they proceeded. "We are both predators, however we have such an intense curiosity about the universe that we're more interested in understanding the way things work than simply trying to kill everything in sight."

     "You are presuming a lot," Q'RrTss said, huffing in disgust. Trevar halted to regard him in the dark. It was so dark, that even Q'RrTss had trouble seeing the being beside him despite the light being carried by the people ahead.

     "I am different from my people," the human stated, "as you are different from yours. However, much more of your species still has our kind of spirit, the same type of blood urge that you and I have. It's the same with these creatures about us. By the way, watch your ears." Q'RrTss was worried that Trevar was going to start using the weapons again, and covered his ears.

     " _IF YOU WOULD, COULD YOU PLEASE TURN ON THE LIGHTS NOW?_ " Trevar suddenly yelled. "Thank you!"

     The cavern suddenly lit up, seemingly from no discernible source. Q'RrTss spun about, in fighting stance. Then his brain processed the images his eyes sent him, and his fur stood on end the whole length of his tail and up his back. Trevar didn't seem surprised in the least to be surrounded by great winged reptilian monsters, but the other humans were terrified and cried out in alarm.

     Bemusement.

     Curiosity.

     Puzzlement.

     Despite his terror, Q'RrTss felt the distinct emotions communicated to his mind. These monsters were intrigued by the human walking unafraid into their midst, all the more remarkable that the creature knew _where_ to find _THEM_ , _what THEY_ were, and _why THEY_ had brought these beings here.

     "As I said," Trevar calmly said to Q'RrTss, "you and I are of the same blood as _THEY_ are."

     "These creatures brought us here?" Q'RrTss hissed.

     "Not _THEM_ ," Trevar said to him, looking toward one unoccupied part of the cavern. " _THESE_ are their children. _THIS_ one brought us here."

     From the seemingly blank rock face, Q'RrTss got the distinct impression that something was approaching. There finally came an incomplete image, not on the wall per se, but in the very air in front of the wall, as if a ghostly presence, one not fully released from the material plane, stepped through the rock and into the chamber.

     Q'RrTss was soon crouching on the ground as were the other humans, terrified of the apparition.

     Sighing in awe, Trevar reached out to the snout of the apparition. There was a blinding flash of light as the human screamed.

 

Present Pass, 13.5.26:

     Ryuu woke from the dream drenched in sweat--only it wasn't a dream. It was a flashback, and a very bad one, worse than the one he endured as a memory of the Gold Dragon-Hero's origin. This one was his. His memories had gotten mixed with Q'RrTss' when they both returned to the _DRAGON_ Homeworld together so long ago and it was revealed what happened to them all.

     "Beginnings," he sighed, rolling over on his back to stare up at the ceiling, unable to return to sleep.


	26. Part 26

**Part 26:**

 

Present Pass, 13.11.7, Harperhall:

     Rest Day!

     And the Harvest Gather was scheduled to start that afternoon.

     "Beautiful morning, MasterHarper! Master Traller! Sebell!" Jarod called out as they came down the stairs.

     "Jarod!" Robinton bellowed. "You're looking bright and cheery! What's wrong?"

     Jarod gave him a rakish grin.

     "I thought I'd be perverse, today," he laughed. "Keeps everyone off balance. You should learn to expect-- _the unexpected!_ "

     "Jarod in a good mood?" Sebell asked astonished. "Can't get more unexpected than that!"

     "I never would've guessed such a thing!" Traller added.

     "We're just going to breakfast," Robinton said. "Care to join us?"

     "Love to, although I've already eaten at the Weyr."

     Jarod accompanied Sebell to one of the journeymen's table where Menolly soon joined them after having fed her fair.

     "What's this? Jarod in a good mood for a change?" Menolly exclaimed as she approached. "I thought that was you greeting the MasterHarper, but I couldn't be sure. I almost didn't recognize you when you came across the courtyard."

     "You, too?" Jarod snapped in mock annoyance. She laughed.

     "That's more like it!" she said as she took her seat. "So, what's making you so cheerful all of a sudden?"

     "I don't know," Jarod replied. "Last night started out as normal. Bitchable climb up to the Star Stones in pitch black with only my cane to sense where the edge was. Cold, miserable night as usual. Got some good observations, though. Hard to say, but when the sun came up, I don't know, I was just feeling _great_!

     "So, how is y'all's bloody, miserable day starting out?" he asked them with a wicked gleam in his eye. "Losing any sleep on your Rest Day, now that the Gather flag is flapping away up there?"

     "Master Morshal is," Sebell whispered conspiratorially.

     "Good for him!" Jarod loudly exclaimed, toasting with his fruit juice. Everyone at the table laughed.

     "Oh, Sebell," Menolly spoke up. "We need to get some apprentices to mix up some Hardset. This morning when I was feeding the nuisances, I noticed a hole had opened in the steps leading into the Hall. I don't want anyone to break their ankle."

     "Of course," he nodded. "I'll get the yard detail on it right after the masters release us."

     The conversations continued as breakfast was served. Sebell and Menolly couldn't take their eyes off Jarod with his unusual demeanor. So, they were the first to be alerted to trouble.

     It started when Jarod's cheerful expression suddenly faded and he began looking about the Dining Hall. He had been politely listening to journeyman Stinel recount some antics of the apprentices. Menolly and Sebell looked at each in confusion, unable to identify what had gotten his attention. Jarod's gaze finally settled on the entrance and he had a look of impending disaster on his face when he leapt to his feet.

     At the same instant, every fire-lizard in the room launched into the air, screeching excitedly. Jarod ran between the Apprentices' tables faster using three legs than most people could with two, and he slammed into the doors just as the fire-lizards followed him out.

     "Jarod!" Master Robinton called out, but the journeyman was moving too fast to respond. Menolly and Sebell rushed out right behind their Master and Traller.

     They found Jarod outside the Hall in the courtyard, kneeling on his good leg and with his right one stretched awkwardly to the side. He was by the hole that had formed where the stairs met the rock face to the Hall. Several of the fire-lizards were whirling about over his head.

     "Jarod!" Robinton shouted. "What's the meaning--?" He stopped as he saw a bronze fire-lizard emerge from the hole, dragging a hissing feline behind him. He was covered in red blood and green ichor.

     "Oh, NO!" Menolly screamed. "DIVER!" She ran down, but stopped when Jarod suddenly glared at her. He reached out to help Diver pull the feline from the hole, and she could see why the feline was hissing at being moved. Its left hind leg was torn off, and blood was spurting from the wound.

     "Diver? Are you hurt?" Menolly reached out, but her fire-lizard ignored her and rushed back into the hole. " _DIVER!_ " she screamed. She looked up and about and saw only one bronze, blue, green, and three browns. "Where are the others?" she wondered. Then the images hit her.

     "OH, NO! _TUNNEL-SNAKE!_ " she exclaimed. " _They're fighting a tunnel-snake!_ "

     "This one's kittens are still down there!" Jarod said. "They're still in danger!" Instantly, Brownie, Auntie Two, and Uncle flew into the hole.

     "Zair!" Robinton exclaimed, suddenly needing to sit down on the stairs. "He's with Beauty! They're trying to kill the snake! Get out of there, you two! The feline's free! It's going to die, anyhow! We'll seal up the hole with hardset! Get out of there!"

     Menolly slowly became aware of music playing in the distance, and she looked about in confusion. Snare drums, horns and instruments she couldn't identify began a fanfare, and quickly settled into a complex symphony.

     "What would Domick be running at this moment?" she absently wondered. She looked about, but then saw the master composer standing there beside Robinton and Traller. She blinked, but the man was still there, and the music was still playing. It shifted to a sad melody, but she couldn't spend any more time wondering about that when her fair was in danger far below where no one could help them.

     She looked back at Jarod, who was comforting the feline's head. Poll, Lazybones, and Mimic settled around the feline, crooning sadly.

 

     In her mind, she could see Beauty fighting alongside Zair, going at the tunnel-snake's snarling face and flashing fangs. Rocky, Auntie One, Snap, and Kimi were right behind, but the tunnel was too narrow for more than two fire-lizards to fight side-by-side.

     Beauty and Zair drove the monster back down into the tunnels, pressing their attack deeper into the snake's twisty burrow past numerous openings to other tunnels. For some reason, they continued to harass the tunnel-snake, even after the feline was pulled out. Then Rocky and Kimi took off down one tunnel; Snap and Auntie One went down another.

 

     At that moment, Diver emerged from the hole, carrying a mewing ball of fluff. He was still coated in red and green and she feared for him.

     "Diver? Are you alright?" she asked, but again, the bronze ignored her. Instead, he presented the kit to the feline, and it sniffed at the offering. The tone of the music playing behind her took an especially sad theme, and the sight of the dying feline and her helpless baby nearly broke her heart.

     "They are helping," she heard Jarod whisper. Menolly stared at him and saw he was weeping and talking to the feline. "They will rescue your little ones. It was good you made them your friends. The pain will go soon. Don't be afraid. They will help you."

 

     In her mind, Menolly saw that Rocky and Kimi's detour had paid off. They came upon the tunnel-snake from the side through another opening, and instantly set about attacking its mid-limbs and ribs. Hissing in pain and surprise, the monster tried to press forward, but Auntie One and gold Snap likewise had been successful, having come around behind the creature, attacking its tail and preventing it from charging Beauty and Zair.

 

     Brownie, Auntie Two, and blue Uncle all emerged, also carrying mewing kits and presented them to their dying mother.

     "I know you're scared," she heard Jarod whisper. He was gently petting the feline and it seemed to her that it was listening to him. "There's nothing that can be done to save you. But I'm here. You won't die alone. You won't die unloved. You won't be forgotten. You _will_ be remembered. Your kittens will find homes. _They will live!_ "

 

     Reacting to the attack on its flank, the tunnel-snake turned its head to defend itself in that direction, exposing its neck to Beauty and Zair. A fatal error, for Beauty rushed in with claws and fangs to rip into its neck, and Zair got his claws sunk deep into its eye, thus keeping it from turning back to bite at her.

     In response, the monster twisted about in the tunnel, trying to spin and shake off the two fire-lizards. Instead, it only succeeded in exposing its belly to Rocky and Kimi, who quickly took advantage. Ripping into its entrails, they scored major arteries and the tunnel-snake quickly expired.

 

     As she watched, the feline begin to sink from consciousness, and the music she had been hearing, which had several passages of build, climax, and sorrow, suddenly had one final, dreadful passage. Then the melody returned to the introductory measure with gentle high notes from a harp, then as a soft flute joined just as Beauty, Zair, Rocky, Auntie One, Snap, and Kimi emerged from the hole, covered in green and red gore, but triumphant. Kimi carried a dirty, bloodied, injured, but mewing ball of fluff, and brought it to her mother. For a moment, the feline had an incredible expression of gratitude in its eyes. The sight made Menolly burst out crying as the music ended with horns joining the fanfare.

     Then the mother feline was gone, and the fire-lizards' keening shocked the observers.

     "Shells!" Sebell whispered. "That's why they fought so! There was one left!"

     "And it's hurt," Robinton quietly said.

     "I'll get it to Oldive!" Sebell said, stepping down to take it from Kimi.

     "I--I'm--sorry about--causing such--a disruption," Jarod had trouble speaking.

     "That's alright, lad," Robinton said. "It was quite justified. And timely."

     "One, final duty," Jarod began as he gently picked up the mother feline. But Zair and Beauty reached out and stopped him.

     "You would do this?" Menolly heard him quietly ask them. Their chirps made him smile. "Thank you," he said. "Tell them I am sending her to them." He handed the fire-lizards the body of the feline and they took off and went _between_.

     "Wha--what is that about?" Menolly asked, not believing her eyes.

     "A favor," Jarod said cryptically. The bronze and gold quickly returned without their burden.

     "They keened for it? And they took it _between_? A feline?" she asked incredulously.

     "Dragons honor whom they will," Jarod said, gathering the kits from the other fire-lizards.

     Silvina was informed and arrangements were made to getting the felines some milk. They were still too young to wean, but were old enough to drink from a platter. Camo soon showed up when he heard the cries and chirps of the fire-lizards.

     "Pretties?" he asked, looking at them in confusion. "Pretties hurt?"

     "No, they're fine, Camo," Menolly cried, still weeping from the scene she had witnessed. "They fought a tunnel-snake."

     "Snake!" Camo exclaimed in astonishment. "Hate snake! Pretties hurt? Snake hurt pretties? Camo kill snake!"

     "The pretties did well, Camo," Robinton told his son. "They all fought together and supported each other. None of them got hurt. But a feline died. They saved her kits."

     "Kit--ties?" Camo asked, puzzled by the term.

     "Yes, Camo," Jarod spoke up. "Kitties. Their mother was the pretties' friend. The snake killed her and one of the kitties was hurt. They have no mother, now."

     "Kitties," Camo began to weep. "Poor kitties. Pretties' friends? Camo will help them."

     "I think they will be in good hands with you, Camo," Jarod said, throwing a knowing glance to Silvina. The woman smiled as she patted the big drudge's shoulders.

     Camo's thick fingers gently brushed over the kits as he looked for any injuries.

     "Pretty kitties!" the man blubbered. "Poor kitties!"

     "I'll go check with Sebell," Jarod said, excusing himself from the company.

     "I'll join you," Menolly belatedly called out, but got no response from Jarod as to whether he agreed or not. Something that she had seen during this event really concerned her.

 

     "I'm rather surprised at you, Sebell," Oldive was saying when they arrived. "Wouldn't it have been kinder to put it down?"

     "Six fire-lizards risked their hides to save her life," Jarod spoke up as he entered, pointing to Sebell's Kimi and Menolly's Beauty, both still covered in blood and ichor. "The least we should do is to try and save her, too."

     "I see," Oldive nodded.

     "Will it live?" Menolly asked.

     "Well, its back is laid open," Oldive said, wiping his hands of the creams he had just used. "But felines have very loose skin. Fortunately, none of the underlying tissue seems to be damaged. I've numbweeded it and I'll stitch up the wound. If the poor creature survives the shock and there's no infection, it should live. It is nearly old enough to wean. At least it won't starve."

     "That's all we can hope for," Jarod said, turning to leave.

     Menolly found herself reaching out to Sebell for comfort. The stony expression that Jarod wore as he walked out worried her. Of all the people she had ever met, the one he now reminded her of most was Ryuu, who had also exhibited such a look at least a couple of times that she had seen him, and it frightened her.

 

     Menolly found it difficult to concentrate on the rehearsal for the Gather, as her mind kept going back to the way Jarod behaved during that incident. The look that he had given her when she tried to rush to Diver's aid was so like the glares that Ryuu had often exhibited.

     "Menolly."

     And there was something very odd about how she was the only one to hear that music. It was too much like how that other tune came to her in a dream. _Only this time, she was awake!_

     "Menolly?"

     Lastly, that strange communication that Jarod had with her fire-lizards during the crisis was exactly like Ryuu's ability to speak with dragons and fire-lizards. But even if the man wasn't Ryuu, then he might very well be one of his accomplices. _Didn't the MasterHarper and Sebell mention Wolf and Arye saying something to the effect that they could hear them, too?_

     "Menolly!" Robinton's shout finally broke through her distraction.

     "I-I'm sorry, Master Robinton," she said blushing only now realizing how everyone was staring at her. "I--I can't get that incident earlier this morning out of my mind."

     "I see," Robinton gave her an understanding smile. "That was a horrible way to start the day. That poor feline giving her life to save her young like that and the way _they_ went to the rescue," he said, stroking his bronze Zair, "it was an event almost deserving a ballad. But I don't think many people would understand if we tried to explain it."

     "I suppose you're right," Menolly sighed. Then she noticed how Robinton stole a glance at Sebell.

     "Although," Robinton slowly ventured, "you wouldn't happen to have a tuning growing to describe that, now would you?" She blushed at his knowing glance.

     "Yes, Master," Menolly demurred.

     "All right," Robinton chuckled. "I'd better dismiss you to work on it. We're all about as ready as we're going to be for the Gather, so a few hours' break should be okay. Just don't forget to come out when it's time," he told her with a wink before leaving the Choir room.

     "Sorry," Menolly muttered to Sebell as he hung back from the other journeymen and apprentices who were filing out. She hated the idea of lying to Master Robinton. But then, she realized, she _did_ have an appropriate tune to write down, though it might get her the envy of Master Domick once more.

     "What did I tell you about apologizing for everything?" Sebell asked her, giving her a light hug. "I know, that incident hit me pretty hard, too," he admitted. "Did I ever tell you about a feline that tried to attack Kimi? It happened about six months ago."

     "No, I don't believe you did," Menolly replied, astonished to hear about it.

     "Well, that was the very same feline," Sebell told her. "It was pretty amazing. Jarod caught it in mid-leap."

     "He did?" she exclaimed. Well, that was one more item for her to consider about the man. How could a person as crippled as he move that fast? Only Ryuu had ever come close to demonstrating such skill, so far as she knew.

     "Well, that wasn't the amazing part," Sebell admitted oblivious to her inner turmoil. "It was what happened after he caught it. He got the creature to be friends with Kimi in only a few minutes!"

     "Really?" Menolly asked, surprised.

     "In this very room," Sebell assured her before departing and leaving her to think.

     "That's incredible!" she whispered to herself. It was so much like how Ryuu could speak to their fire-lizards. "Could he _be_ Ryuu?" she wondered aloud.

     _Impossible!_ she finally shook her head at the absurdity. Jarod had been seen fighting Ryuu at the Smithcrafthall. He couldn't be Ryuu--unless-- _unless he timed on himself!_ But that was exceedingly dangerous, from what she had understood. Then again, Ryuu didn't seem the type to shirk from a little danger.

     On the other hand, Jarod didn't exactly need to be Ryuu. After all, there were others known to be in league with him. What if there were some whom no one knew about? Maybe Jarod was such?

     But what she couldn't figure out was if this man was Ryuu or one of his people, then what would be gained by helping in the hunt for the renegade queen rider? Then, she suddenly realized the purpose. He _wasn't_ helping them capture Ryuu! He would be part of a diversion to keep them from finding the renegade!

     Then she began to worry about being able to gather proof to convince Master Robinton. And she also worried that Master Traller acknowledged Jarod as his journeyman. But if Jarod _was_ in league with Ryuu, then so was Master Traller, and she had a hard time being able to justify _that_ accusation, even to herself! At that point, she came to a dead-end, unable to reconcile the contradictions in the facts.

     Finally, she decided to let her mind rest from such thinking and started writing down the notes of the tune that she had heard that morning, a tune that she knew no one else had heard after inquiring about it. She hoped by doing such a task, the answers would just come to her. But three-and-a-half hours later, Sebell came to remind her about her performance at the Gather.

     "Wow!" Sebell exclaimed, looking over her notes. "Master Domick is going to be upset with you again."

     "I suppose so," she sighed, setting the last sheet to dry. The tune was finished, but her puzzle remained unsolved.

 

     The Harvest Gather started promptly at mid afternoon, and the dragons lining the fire ridges eagerly watched the chaotic behavior of the normally reserved and austere population. It was very evident their riders were enjoying themselves among the non-riding people, and even the emotions of the non-riders radiated their pleasure. They found the humans at such times to be quite interesting to observe and very entertaining.

     Ryuu sat at his table, listening more to the dragons discuss their observations than the music that was currently playing.

     He had been surprised at hearing Voith's approach. The hatchlings had flown straight from the Weyr, led by bronze Firth and his rider, K'nebel. From what he was able to learn, it was still too early for them to travel _between_ , but he was still surprised by their arrival. He thought it seemed a bit early for the creatures to be making a long flight like that.

     _Still! She's finally poking her head out of the Weyr!_ he had realized. Listening, he could tell the young creatures were all excited to see new things.

     _We have to get more of that information about raising these creatures!_ Ryuu had determined. _We have to know what to do with them!_

     But then he forced himself to ignore her presence, and listening to the Fort, High Reaches, and Benden dragons trade gossip allowed him the distraction to do so.

     _What,_ he wondered, _would they have thought of humanity had this colony not been cut off so long? If whatever was left of the Federation were to come here and help them out of their problems with the Red Star and Ch'les'tol, what would the dragons think of the Terrans then? And what would the Terrans think of these colonists and their dragons?_

     _And just what is the state of the Federation, these days?_ his thoughts turned toward that troubling enigma.

     The crew had come across another lost Terran colony nearly fifty years ago, where they took possession of the two dangerous psionic amplifiers, and there were indications that the Federation had made recent contact with that world.

     A short while later, they had managed to recover the data from the Memory Omega repository Ryuu established long before they all were forced away from this part of the galaxy. But the records ended within a couple hundred years after the same mysterious force that they had been trying to divert swept through the Federation.

     However, that other lost colony indicated that something of the Federation survived. But there was little time to dwell on that during that incident. And Ryuu didn't like just leaving a puzzle without at least seeing what it was about. But with the Recall, he didn't see any way for them to investigate.

     Then, with his thoughts reaching an impasse, Ryuu forced himself to set aside the problem and concentrate on the here and now instead. Ryuu shifted his attention back to Menolly singing her duet with Sebell.

     _No doubt, even as she's concentrating on this song,_ the thought making him grin, _she must be thinking about that music I sent her this morning. Too bad about that cat, but it couldn't have been helped. But Chris Franke's music was quite an appropriate battle song for those natives to fight to._

     _Still, she's quite a talented young lady, in her own right,_ he then considered, frowning at his own tampering. _I wish I could arrange for more of those old songs and music to filter in, but not at the expense of her skills,_ he shook his head, annoyed that he had to take such a route with this disguise. He would have preferred introducing the material by himself rather than using someone like her to do it. Sighing, he was at a loss on how best to proceed while still keeping Lisa from panicking.

     "Would you care to dance?"

     Ryuu's eyes snapped open in surprise.

     "You've got to be kiddi--" he had automatically started his response, but something about the woman stopped him, and he stared intently at her.

     "Puma?" he quietly asked, to which the young lady smiled and took an empty seat beside him.

     "Did I startle you?" she giggled.

     "It was--unexpected," Ryuu grinned.

     "Aren't you the one always saying we should expect the unexpected? So what are you up to, this time?" she asked.

     "Just catching their music," Ryuu said, leaning close to keep their conversation private. "I've got my communicator open for _Panthro_ to record it. Speaking of which, can you set your comm badge to do so, too? It'll help with deconstructing the ambient noise."

     "I can," Puma replied, showing her puzzlement. "But what if we need to signal the ship?"

     "Well, we've still got our subcutaneous transponders," Ryuu told her. "Plus, the ship's sensors are nearly restored to full capacity, enough for it to pick up our genetic markers even through the worst of their subspace distortions."

     "So where do you want me to stash it?" she asked, pulling out the badge.

     "Under the table's fine," Ryuu said, getting up from his seat. "I'll come back for them later."

     "Where are we going?" Puma asked astonished as he brought her to her feet.

     "To dance, of course," Ryuu said, grinning slyly. "In private." Then he paused significantly. "Unless you _want_ us to do so out here in the open. And that would certainly interfere with the recording because I'm sure it would put an end to their music."

     "Hmm, I see," she agreed and they departed to locate a secluded spot.

     A short time later, a few people passing a darkened alley of stalls were puzzled by the humming of fire-lizards that was seriously out of harmony with the harpers. Fortunately, the sound didn't last long.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     They materialized on the transporter platform and stepped away. Then they both began getting out of their clothes and gear that helped their disguises. Once they were finished, they both triggered the Gateway. Ryuu paused while Puma transformed back to her normal appearance. He looked over his largest dragon form and sighed.

     _So, can I perhaps talk you into letting me fly you like this?_ he asked.

     "Not a chance!" Puma hissed, stepping further away from him. "I want you as a man, not a lizard!" His flare momentarily blinded her.

     "Too bad," he said, reaching out to hold her. Puma tried pulling away, but he held on. "Now, what?"

     "You're always killing the mood!" she snarled.

     "Well, if we were both dragons, would it be so bad?" he asked. "And I'm human, now. Just as you wanted. All I did was ask. Is that so bad? At least I asked you."

     "Well--" she relaxed a little in his embrace. "That's right, you did."

     "So are you going to apologize?"

     " _ME?_ " Puma asked astounded. "What about _you_?"

     "Why should I apologize?" he demanded. "I had politely asked you. You said no, and I abided with your wishes without any complaint. You were the one rude to me."

     "Not bloody likely!" Puma screamed, pulling away from him. Ryuu sighed.

     " _Panthro_ , would you please display the last few moments to her from the point at which we arrived?" Ryuu asked.

     A low resolution image appeared showing Ryuu and Puma arriving on the transporter platform. Suddenly, Ryuu's image flared, resolving in to his dragon form, while Puma's image appeared as stunned as Ryuu felt.

     There had been no stepping off the transporter mechanism, for triggering the Gateway at that location would've damaged the transporter scanners, nor had there been the effort either had taken to remove their clothes. But then the image of the dragon suddenly leapt upon the image of Puma and began ripping off her colonist outfit, all the while she was screaming for the dragon to stop, even as the gold dragon's forked tongue snaked out.

     " _PANTHRO!_ " Ryuu furiously bellowed.

     Puma, who was equally stunned by what she was seeing, suddenly burst out laughing to split her gut and collapsed.

     "That's _not_ funny!" Ryuu yelled at the ship's computer.

     "Sorry. I just couldn't resist the opportunity," the _Panthro_ responded as the image dissipated. "Too bad. Just as it was getting interesting."

     "I swear I'm going to find that bulk tape eraser!" Ryuu growled.

     "Okay! Okay! I got the point!" Puma yelled after she finally caught her breath again. "I was at fault for that one! _But that was so funny!_ "

     "1.698 Terrapotens for transport of two individuals," _Panthro_ spoke up, counting off the costs of the incident. "0.529 nanohoronds for computational design, extrapolation, plotting, and rendering. The looks on your faces: _Priceless!_ "

     Ryuu still looked furious, but then began to shake his head and snorted. Then he glared at Puma.

     "Be careful, I can still make that simulation come true," he growled at her. " _Panthro_ , some robes, please."

     Puma sobered despite his threat being an empty one. But she did approach to embrace him after he dressed in the robes that appeared on the platform.

     "I apologize," she crooned, hugging him. "Shall we dance? In private? As humans?" Ryuu nodded, and they left to go to his quarters.

 

Fort Hold Gather:

     "I can't wait for K'nebel to let us go _between_ ," J'gun told Lisa as they danced to a slow, intimate song from the harper stage. "And neither can Achorrath!"

     "Me either," Lisa said, shuddering at the idea. She feared traveling through that dimension, seeing the things there, feeling her ability to Change disrupted. But it was her only escape from the aliens pursuing her. She had no choice. As soon as K'nebel trained them to go _between_ , she'd be able to use that to escape from Ryuu and his people!

     "It's hard to believe it's just six months since we Impressed," Lisa agreed, leaning into him as he guided them. "K'nebel thinks it's still too early to let them take wing," she told him. But I pointed out they're bigger than that white."

     "Well, I'm glad you talked him into it," J'gun said. "Even flying straight, Achorrath was enjoying himself. And he does seem to be paying attention to Voith!" he laughed. "Do you think she'll choose him when they rise?"

     "Dragon choices are always finicky," Lisa responded, hugging him tighter. Just then, a jolt hit Lisa.

     _J'gun!_ Achorrath roared when his rider collapsed.

     _Lisa!_ Voith cried.

     "Oh, gods! No!" Lisa whimpered, horrified. _Not Ryuu! Not NOW!_

     A second jolt soon struck her, but fortunately no one was close enough to be touching her. Voith screamed out again.

     _Who is hurting Lisa!_ the gold roared.

     _Voith! Be quiet! It's Ryuu!_ Lisa sent to her dragon. _Did you see a flash of light anywhere? Voith, did you see a flash?_

     _No,_ Voith replied, quieting down. _There was no flash. Why is that important?_

     _It must be Ryuu Changing somewhere else for some reason,_ Lisa concluded as she nervously looked about her.

     "What happened?" N'ton demanded as he, F'lar, and K'nebel rushed up. Lessa and Robinton also came running.

     "I--I don't know!" Lisa stammered. "We were just dancing, then suddenly he collapsed!"

     _Someone hurt J'gun!_ Achorrath roared.

     _And Lisa!_ Voith added. That got Lessa's attention.

     "Lisa," Lessa confronted her. "Did you get hurt, too?"

     "Y--yes," she had to admit, now that Voith spilled it. "I-I felt all my muscles spasm for a moment. Just as J'gun collapsed."

     "Spread out!" Lessa ordered the converging dragonriders and harpers. "Ryuu or one of his people might be here!"

     "J'gun? Are you alright?" K'nebel asked, kneeling by the weyrling rider.

     "Ye--*<cough>*--yeah. I think so," J'gun said. "Wh-what hit me?"

     "Did anyone see a flash of light?" Lessa demanded of the crowd. But no one had witnessed anything.

     They're _looking for him Changing, too?_ Lisa wondered with surprise. _When did_ they _find out about_ that _?_

     "Where's Jarod?" Menolly asked Robinton. "I saw him a few minutes ago." If he was involved, she wanted him found and caught.

     The Masterharper, taller than most of the people there, looked about the crowd, but couldn't see him.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     Several hours later, Kylara was storming through an empty corridor, furious that they would still not let her return to the planet. But there was not one of this ship's crew that would bother to pay her attention, except for Mike. But aside from his occasional usefulness to satisfy her appetites, he was as useless as the rest of them. And as a result, she only found him tolerable because no one else even seemed the least bit interested in her on a physical level, even as her own looks could certainly compare with any of the females she saw--at least the ones that bothered to take human form.

     When she saw Puma come out from a chamber with a man she had never seen before, she paused to watch, moving to avoid being seen and keeping her fire-lizard from calling out. And she began to fume with renewed anger. Despite the robes they were wearing, it was clear that they had just been busy being intimate with each other. Just then, the man looked at her with a surprised look on his face. Puma also looked at her with a startled reaction.

     "Kylara," the man greeted her with a flat tone. "Is there something we can help you with?"

     "Yes!" she spat, stepping out to confront them. "Are you aware that these people have been keeping me prisoner for over six months!"

     "Vaguely," the man said, shrugging his shoulders. "Since I was the one who ordered you to be confined."

     "WHAT?" Kylara screamed.

     "She's taking that rather well," the man muttered to Puma.

     "J--ju--just--who the-- _HELL_ \--are you--to order that I be kept here?" Kylara sputtered. She had picked up on these people's swear words, especially since Mike and Ryuu had introduced her to some of their history recordings.

     "I'm Ryuu."

     She stared dumbfounded at him for several moments. Her gold fire-lizard emitted a querulous chirp.

     "Y--yo--you _can't_ be!" Kylara growled. "Ryuu is--"

     "That was a disguise," Ryuu interrupted.

     "A dis--disguise?" she stammered. "B--bu--but you--you don't look anything like--you did!"

     "Well, it wouldn't be much of a disguise if I did, now would it?" Ryuu asked with a smirk. "After all, what's the point if people knew _that_ was me?"

     "She's--been difficult," Puma muttered to Ryuu, earning her an impotent glare from the former Weyrwoman.

     "I see," Ryuu nodded. "Kylara, would you please wait here? I'll be back to talk with you." Then the couple left her to sputter in rage as they walked to the strange moving rooms, elevators, they called them.

     "What kind of people--creatures," she corrected herself, "are they?" she demanded.

     _DRAGONS,_ her precious fire-lizard sighed. Then she quickly shuddered. Nothing _is_ between _!_

     "As usual, you're not making any sense!" Kylara spat.

 

     "Bridge," Ryuu ordered when he and Puma were alone in the transport.

     "So what do you have planned with her?" Puma asked.

     "Well, I just want to get a complete picture before deciding anything drastic," Ryuu replied. A Caitian yilShwish later, they arrived on the Bridge. Wolf and Arye were there, along with three of the Caitians, M'leer, F'ress, and M'rejj, as well as T'khill with Stealth, and two of his people, T'jor, and V'yir.

     "Afternoon, all," Ryuu greeted.

     "It's past midnight, here, Ryuu," Wolf replied matter-of-fact, but Ryuu ignored it.

     "I'll get right to the point," he began. "I take it that Kylara is being something of an annoyance?"

     "A insubstantial irritant," T'jor said, flipping a wing to emphasize his point.

     "A _minorr_ irrritant," M'rejj corrected him. Ryuu barely held back his grin as he looked at T'khill.

     "That is when she's _not_ trying to get our attention," Wolf muttered. "Then a quick use of the Gateway is enough to dissuade her from harassing us--for a few days at least."

     Ryuu listened to the crew's assessment of their reluctant guest and then Wolf asked him what he intended to do about her behavior.

     "Well, it's pretty evident that Kylara's a manipulative, greedy, self-centered, spiteful, vindictive person with no redeeming value other than that of her native. I think we can certainly use someone like her," Ryuu said. The looks on their faces made him recall the little stunt the _Panthro_ had just pulled on him, and he snorted. "Actually, if she gets too rambunctious, we can always lock her in her quarters. She can get food from the replicators, while her native can move about freely. I'm surprised you all haven't thought of that already."

     "Actually, we were considering spacing her," Wolf said, yawning. "But that would've upset Stealth and you because of her fire-lizard."

     "Well, thanks for not doing that," Ryuu said. "I'm going to have a few words with her. Don't worry. She'll either straighten up, or I'll lock her up."

 

Healercraft Hall:

     "There's still no sign of Ryuu," Robinton said, coming into the infirmary where J'gun was resting. F'lar, Lessa, N'ton and K'nebel were there as Lisa sat on a neighboring cot. "But then, it might well have been one of his accomplices. _He_ might not even have been here."

     "But why would they attack a couple of weyrlings like that?" Lessa demanded. "Are you sure you both saw no one close to you when you got hurt?"

     "No, Weyrwoman," both J'gun and Lisa replied.

     "Well, I don't like this one little bit!" Lessa spat. "What could those people be trying to accomplish with such stunts?"

     "Whatever it is, he must be a very patient person," Robinton said. "It's been almost five months since we've last heard from him."

     "Yes," F'lar muttered. "And the first time he showed up was the Spring Gather Groghe held here."

     "You think he's trying to disrupt Fort, maybe?" Lessa asked. "I still think Ruatha is his goal."

     "It could be a diversion," Robinton muttered. "But with Lord Jaxom frequently at the Weyr, we've had no further incidents with him appearing at Ruatha. It's almost as if he's avoiding Ruatha." Lisa perked up on that.

     _What if he knows where I_ really _am, and is avoiding the Weyr?_ she wondered. Just then, she felt another electric shock through her frame. Fortunately, she had pressed Voith not to scream out, and no one else seemed to notice.

     _I'm okay, Voith,_ Lisa sent to reassure her dragon. _Ryuu seeks to flush me out with these attacks. We mustn't give him any idea who we are! Please be quiet!_

     She only hoped that the harpers didn't try to chase down Ryuu or his people. From what she overheard of the harper girl speaking with her Master, Lisa feared that Jarod was looking for the alien despite her warnings to him.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     It was the medium sized gold dragon Ryuu could become that returned to speak with her. Kylara nervously went where the creature directed her. This time into his quarters.

     _Kylara,_ he began, _I'm going to be straight forward with you and rather blunt. I know that you are used to preferential treatment due to having been Impressed to your Prideth._ The mention of her lost dragon brought the former Weyrwoman shudders and on the verge of crying at being reminded of her loss.

     _But just to let you know, no one here cares about you,_ Ryuu quickly told her. _For one reason, you should not have been brought here in the first place. Mike made a mistake by doing so._

     "Why?" Kylara demanded. "Why was I brought here?"

     _We were looking for a missing crewman that came to your colony back when it was originally settled,_ Ryuu explained. _Mike was under the mistaken impression that you might have been her. Then, there was my error in trying to ascertain how much you were aware of your surroundings. By touching your mind, I pulled you from where your mind retreated after losing your dragon._

     "But you brought me out! I was locked inside my body, and you freed me! And now you're telling me _that was a mistake?_ " she shouted.

     _Yes,_ the dragon said flatly.

     "I--I don't understand!" Kylara began to cry. "I thought you brought me here to help me! And you did! And now you're telling me that you had no intention of doing that?"

     _Exactly,_ Ryuu replied. _It was not in our mandate to help you. But the fact that it happened is regrettable. And were it not for your little friend here, I would've returned your mind to the way it was and returned you to your colony. Unfortunately, the deed is done, and for that reason, you have to stay here. But then, that leaves me a bit of a dilemma. You're becoming something of an irritant to my crew and I can't have that._

     "But they won't let me return home!" she complained.

     _Because we can't send you back the way you are,_ Ryuu told her.

     "But why not?"

     _We can't leave any traces that we were here,_ Ryuu said. _As your friend has often told you,_ nothing _is_ between _!_

     "I don't understand!" she complained.

     _Do you have any idea what is_ between _?_ Ryuu asked her.

     "Of course!" she spat. "It's cold, airless, and nothing is there!"

     _Yet something_ is _there!_ Ryuu said, sending her his memories of what he had sensed that day when he had ridden on Ruth. Her fire-lizard squawked in surprise and horror.

     Nothing _is_ between _!_ Nothing _is_ between _!_ the creature screamed.

     "Th--tha--those things!" Kylara gasped. "Mike showed me! But how can they be there? What are they doing there?"

     THEY _are hidden there,_ Ryuu told her, reaching out to take her gold native and calm her down. _It's okay, Little One,_ he said soothingly to the fire-lizard. _It's time she learned. And she will not be telling anyone on the colony._

     _You see, these little fellows have always known about_ THEM _,_ Ryuu said to Kylara. _But they don't wish you humans to be alarmed by the_ DRAGONS _hidden there, because these little fellows are very frightened of their cousins. And who wouldn't be?_

     "But how can they be there? And why haven't we seen them before?" she whispered in horror.

     _The_ DRAGONS _are multi-phasic, inter-dimensional beings,_ Ryuu told her. THEY _don't need air to breath, or warmth to exist._ THEY _are_ beyond _such needs. And as for why you haven't seen_ THEM _, since_ between _is so dark, it's easy for_ THEM _to hide, even from those of you who are naturally telepathic. Plus, your own dragons are working to keep you people from detecting_ THEM _._

     "And this is why you're not going to return me?" Kylara asked. "Because you told me this?"

     _No,_ the gold dragon sighed and slowly shook his head. _I'm telling you about_ THEM _because I never had any intention of letting you go, with or without that information. And since you're not going anywhere, it can't hurt for you to have it, so there!_ Kykara stared at him dumbfounded.

     _I kept your mind healed because I won't harm your friend, here,_ Ryuu glanced down at the fire-lizard he held. _And since you've become something of an annoyance to my crew, I have to consider my options._

     _To protect her from any harm due to your harassing my crew, I'm considering locking you up and only letting her out to play. You've learned to use the food replicators, so you won't starve. And_ Panthro _can still provide you with entertainment._

     "'Entertainment'?" Kylara asked astonished. "What 'entertainment'? I've been cooped up here, with nothing to do but learn your history, or Mike trying to explain some incomprehensible feature about you creatures!"

     "She has completed the entire collection of Highlander, Quantum Leap, Babylon 5, and the Wild Wild West television series," _Panthro_ reported. "As well as  Jurassic Parks One through Five, the ten Star Wars movies, and the six Tolkien Movies. And she's currently being introduced to Gunsmoke."

     _History, indeed, huh?_ Ryuu asked sighing and shaking his head. He was going to have to have a lo-o-ong talk with Mike. The idea began to burn a hole into his gut. _Recognize anyone?_ Ryuu asked her. _Ambassador Londo Molary, perhaps?_

     "What do you mean?" she asked, puzzled by the question.

     _Londo Molary from_ Babylon 5 _has a personality not much different from your own,_ Ryuu explained. _As I discussed with the crew, we've found you to be a manipulative, greedy, self-centered, spiteful, vindictive person with no redeeming value other than that of your native. The_ only _reason I'm tolerating you is for_ her _sake. You're just excess baggage for her,_ he said, looking down at the golden queen sitting in his hands. _But unfortunately, necessary excess baggage._

     "How dare you speak to me like that?" she suddenly screamed at him.

     _You forget,_ Ryuu said with a steely mental voice. _I've had a few chances to peek into your head. I know what kind of person you really are, how you even displeased your own dragon, and how you caused Prideth and Wirenth to both be killed._

     " _That was Brekke who did that to me!_ " Kylara cried. "It was all _her_ fault!"

     _Do you want me to pull the memories up to the surface from your mind?_ Ryuu asked, glaring at her.

     "How--how can you be so cruel?" she asked, bursting out in tears. Ryuu simply sat there, watching her.

     "Is--is th--that what you think of me?" Kylara asked after she finally cried herself out and could speak again.

     _What do you think?_ Ryuu inquired. _But getting back to Londo, he eventually repented his mistakes and turned his nature about, even as he still had to pay the price for his past errors. However, he_ accepted _his responsibility and paid that price willingly. What about you? Have you learned anything while here?_

     "That story was of the history of your world?" Kylara asked, trying to avoid the subject.

     _No,_ the dragon sighed. _It was a fictional story. If anything, it was a morality play. The program's creator, Josef Michael Straczynski lived hundreds of years before the time of the story. Indeed, most of his alien species and types of technology were dead wrong. But this was a good morality lesson about responsibility, choices, and consequences. Much like your culture uses songs by your Harpers to teach, we used such programs to teach, even as we were entertained. I still learn something new every time I see it, and that program is almost as old as I am._

     "You've seen it so many times, and you still learn lessons from it?" Kylara asked, astonished.

     _Does that surprise you?_ Ryuu asked, bringing his head closer to glare at her. _Would it not surprise you that for all that I've learned, that all the wisdom that I've acquired over the centuries and millennia that I've lived and sights that I've seen, that I feel I might still learn something useful_ even _from a person as foolish as yourself?_

     " _You're evil!_ " she screamed at him.

     _No,_ Ryuu grinned evilly at her as if she had just given him a complement. _I'm just very vicious and merciless when I need to be. You still haven't come to grips with what you've done to your fellow colonists, your dragon, your native here, and yourself. You've had over six months now to do so, and I think it's getting time you started facing reality._

     "What do you mean?" Kylara screamed.

     _As I told you, you are never leaving here, for one,_ he told her. _I hate needing to repeat myself, but if it weren't for your native, your fire-lizard, I would have returned your mind back into that zombie state and sent you back the day you arrived. However, for her sake, I kept your mind healed, so that required me to keep you up here, and that's the second point. You owe_ her _your current sanity. You're nothing to me. Your little friend here, however, I value. I_ won't _hurt her, so I'm forced to not cause you any harm. But to heal your mind, it's going to hurt when you face your own personal demons. Healing sometimes requires pain. And I have no doubt you're very shortly going to be enduring a lot of agony, because I'm going to start helping you heal._ Then he left her there alone.

     Kylara soon began weeping again, and when her fire-lizard went to her to comfort her, she finally understood how much she owed her little queen. _She_ had caused her dragon, her precious golden Prideth to die and go _between_ , taking--no-- _ripping_ a part of her soul out of her. She wanted to blame that boy-girl Brekke, but Ryuu forced her to realize that it was _she_ who had done it! And now, likewise, Kylara's existence depended on her little precious gold fire-lizard.

     "I'm sorry!" Kylara whispered as she gently hugged the gold fire-lizard, weeping over her loss, her guilt, her circumstances and fate, and her last, small chance at redemption now quite literally held in her own two hands. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

 


	27. Part 27

**Part 27:**

 

Present Pass, 13.11.8:

     "Why do I need to see dragons fighting each other?" Kylara demanded the next morning. "I've _seen_ it! I've _lived_ it!"

     "Ryuu's orders," Mike said with a shrug.

     "Good morning, Kylara," Ryuu greeted, coming up behind them in his human form. He had assumed the appearance she had first known him as, and it puzzled her as to why he had done so. "Welcome to your first day of healing."

     "RYUU?" she screamed at him in astonishment. "How can you even think making me watch something as horrible as dragons fighting will help me?"

     "You have to learn to think beyond yourself, Kylara," Ryuu finally said after giving her an assessing look. "We are different from the dragons you're used to. And believe me, what we do every fifty years, or so, is not pleasant by any stretch of the imagination. But we have to live through that as well. We feel every bite, every slash from one another's claws, feel every crippling and mortal wound you're about to see, and we go through it every half century since we became dragons."

     "Why?" she asked, unable to fathom the purpose. For some reason, the question seemed to please Ryuu.

     "Because this is how we choose our leadership," Ryuu replied as he approached the doors, making them open. Then he turned, blocking her path. "Since you seem to be interested in taking over here, the least you should do before trying is understand what that entails. It might make you reconsider," he smirked, stepping aside and gesturing her to enter. "Or at the very least, force you to think of the strategy needed to accomplish it," he added grinning as she passed him.

     Once the terrain and setting was created in the Holodeck, Ryuu explained the rules to her.

     "There are eight species represented among our crew," he began. "And eight of each of us, except for us humans, of which there are only six at present. There's a seventh, a woman named Lisa, down on your colony. But this scene is our last election that took place seven years ago."

     "What are they doing?" Kylara asked as she saw images of T'khill and his people face off against a brutish looking group of aliens she had never seen before.

     "We fight by elimination rounds," Ryuu told her. These two sets are our finest warrior species. The Skorr, T'khill's people, are native masters of the air. The Klingons, Kalud's people, just simply live for combat. With each group, there are four males and four females. No flaming is allowed, but all other forms of combat are legal. You're considered killed if you're forced to use the Gateway at any time after taking dragon form and combat begins. They fight until their opponents are all eliminated and one side has at least a male and female pair. A 'breeding' solution, so to speak." Kylara watched as both groups all transformed into dragons and savagely tore into each other over a valley that was larger than Benden's Weyr.

     Kylara was familiar with T'khill's form as well as a couple of his fellows'. Their dragons, as nasty as they looked, however, didn't look like they could take on the other group. The Klingon dragons were true monsters. Numerous spikes protruded from various locations about their heavily armored bodies, their feet were tipped with sword-like talons, and their horned heads sported vicious looking teeth. And those creatures all made good use of them.

     But T'khill's allies were graceful flyers and actually scored telling attacks, even as they took as well as they delivered.

     "What if there's no breeding pair?" Kylara asked after thinking about it. One of the Klingon dragons flared while in contact with two of T'khill's allies, forcing them to transform and drop out of the fight as well.

     "Then the side with any female survivors is considered a pyrrhic victory," Ryuu said. "If both sides' females are all eliminated, then both groups are out of the running. The only exception to that is if it's the final round, then both sides simply continue with another opportunity to fight. At the end of an elimination round, the victorious side regroups for the next challenge."

     "Why would having a surviving female be considered a victory if there are no males left?" Kylara asked.

     "Well," Ryuu paused, trying to put it delicately. "The truth of the matter is, in reality, it wouldn't make any difference, since none of us can breed. But in theory, if combat began with all females pregnant, then any surviving females might possibly continue the species."

     "What do you mean, you can't breed?" Kylara asked, puzzled.

     "The _DRAGONS_ made us so," Ryuu explained as the last of Kalud's dragons fell. T'khill, V'yir and another dragon were all that were left, and V'yir could no longer fly with her wings shredded.

     "The Gateway makes it impossible for our females to become pregnant and carry to term," Ryuu told her. "In addition, we males are infertile. It's just the way things are. But there are hormonal issues to deal with, and this exersise is part of it. Every fifty years, we _have_ to fight."

     "Th-that's horrible!" she exclaimed. Ryuu merely shrugged his shoulders then stepped away, taking Mike aside to speak with him.

     "Listen, Mike," Ryuu began with a low whisper. "I want this woman's mind healed. She's going to be staying with us, and it doesn't do us any good to have her with her brains scrambled as they are. I need you to get it done _properly!_ " he stressed.

     "I thought _you_ were going to fix her up," Mike exclaimed.

     "Unfortunately, I can't stay and do the job," Ryuu sighed. "That's why I need you to continue the treatment. And showing her nothing but fictional movies isn't exactly what she needs."

     "I thought you liked those films," he protested.

     "I do," Ryuu said. "Might I ask that you at least have the decency to explain to her what's fiction and what's historic?"

     "Well, can't you go and play around up there?" Mike asked, gesturing to his temple.

     " _NO!_ " Ryuu shouted. "And don't you go doing any of that, either! Her brain's scrambled enough as it is!"

     "Well this wouldn't be necessary if you hadn't snapped her out of her coma," he said.

     "Mike," Ryuu began to growl, "none of this would be necessary if _you_ had followed procedure and _not_ brought her or any of those other girls _up here to begin with!_ " he finished with a shout.

     Wincing, Mike glanced at Kylara, and Ryuu looked, too. Ryuu gave a pleasant smile to the woman staring at them and ignoring the display of the two new groups of dragons tearing into each other. Ryuu turned back to Mike, the smile vanishing.

     "Get this through _your_ head, Mike," Ryuu growled. "I have to be gone for extended periods. But when I get back, this woman's head better be fixed or, so help me, I'll transport your carcass outside the ship and the _Panthro_ will hold your butt out there in a tractor beam for a week while you learn to breathe vacuum! And if _that_ doesn't straighten you out on how to do this properly, I'll arrange it so you'll stay out there _for a month!_ "

     Mike gulped nervously. While they couldn't _permanently_ die, they could suffer if the Gateway tried to repair their injuries while still in an environment that was inimical to life. He remembered the time that Ryuu once had been on a ship that had self-destructed, leaving him exposed for several weeks before Puma and M'leer recovered him. After nearly a week of continuous activations, Ryuu's Gateway had shut down until the conditions were more favorable, and he drifted unconscious until the others finally found him.

     "Yes, Ryuu," Mike meekly replied.

     "Yes, Kylara? Can I help you?" Ryuu pleasantly asked her.

     The former Weyrwoman gulped when the attention of the mercurial man turned back toward her. There evidently was some tension in the relationship between Mike and Ryuu, she realized. But given the dangerous natures that she was just becoming aware of, Kylara thought it best that she not indulge herself with her usual entertainment by provoking a confrontation, lest she get caught by some of it. _She_ could not use a Gateway to heal herself! she realized.

     "No," she quietly whispered, shuddering as she looked back to the presentation as a third set of dragons squared off. This time, it was T'khill's eight and Ryuu's six dragons.

     Just then, the doors to the Holodeck opened and several creatures arrived. Two of the walking wherries, one Kylara had learned was named V'yir and T'khill with his bronze hatchling were accompanied by the bipedal felines, F'ress and M'leer. Wolf and Puma also entered. The expressions on their faces were rather strained, Kylara noted.

     Her thoughts naturally returned to potential entertainment value, but she had to stop herself from giving into temptation again.

If this were Pern, she would have instigated something just to see a reaction in the people. But she recalled that here, with these strange creatures and their volatile tempers, especially Ryuu's, she thought it a good idea to hold off on her natural tendencies.

     "I see you are parading your atrocious lack of honor," V'yir hissed at Ryuu. The man simply smiled.

     "I kept my word, V'yir," Ryuu replied. "If I had violated my bond, the ship would've informed you."

     "I do not believe you!" V'yir snapped, unfolding her arms to prepare her talons to attack.

     "What is going on?" Kylara asked, backing away toward Mike.

     "During our last combat, we won," Mike explained. "Ryuu had been required to not use music to win that fight, but during the last moments, music suddenly started playing."

     "Music?"  
     "It's rather hard to explain, but Ryuu fights best when he's got something to listen to," Mike told her. " _Panthro_! Reset the playback to the beginning of this round and adjust our location to follow Ryuu."

     Kylara had to clench Mike's arm as the dizzying ride followed alongside Ryuu's dragon form in the combat. The disconcerting view, despite the feel of a solid floor, threatened to make her lose her balance. She noted with annoyance, however, it didn't seem to bother anyone else except for the bronze hatchling. And the wherry's dragon seemed to enjoy the experience, which didn't set well with her temper.

     Then, during the playback, Kylara saw that the dragons representing the wherries had all but wiped out the human's dragon forms. Only Ryuu, Puma, and Wolf were left.

     Suddenly, music started, and just as quickly, the tables turned. Ryuu first grabbed the blue dragon that Kylara remembered was T'khill & forced the blue to flame two of his comrades with lightning before Ryuu ripped his throat out.

     _T'khill!_ Stealth exclaimed seeing the dragons fighting. _Why did Ryuu hurt you?_

     "This was another needed thing, little one," T'khill told the bronze. "I will explain it later, but there is the concern that Ryuu had cheated in this fight."

     "I thought you said you're not allowed to flame," Kylara complained.

     " _I_ didn't flame," Ryuu said smugly. " _That_ was T'khill!"

     "Ryuu cheated by playing music," V'yir said. "By all rights, we could flame them in response!"

     Wolf's red dragon form was engaged with two yellow dragons of his own before he was brought down, and whatever they breathed out didn't seem to affect him. Grappling with them, he managed to take them both down with him, leaving three for Ryuu.

     Kylara watched as the two in the lead pursued Ryuu with V'yir behind, when Ryuu suddenly reversed direction and slipped past to grapple with the female, shredding her wing membranes and breaking one wing as the other two fought to catch at the small gold. As the two remaining males ripped Ryuu apart, his Gateway activated, forcing the three dragons he was in contact with to also change.

     "Since Puma was the only one left of our contingent, we won the Pyrrhic victory for us and we got the command for this term," Ryuu told her. "By me taking out V'yir, they had no females to claim the rule. In theory, Puma could've been pregnant while they had no females to carry on their species. Thus, we won."

     "Thus, _you cheated!_ " V'yir yelled. "If it weren't for you calling up the music, which you agreed not to do--"

     " _Panthro_ , a ruling, if you please?" Ryuu called out.

     "Ryuu did not cheat," the ship replied. "On the other hand, the Skorr did cheat, but since the humans didn't need to contest the violation, the victory stands."

     "How can you say that?" V'yir demanded. "The agreement programmed that Ryuu would not utilize music during the fight!"

     " _Panthrro_ , rreplay the sequence frrom the few seconds beforre the music began," M'leer suddenly called out. "Augment ourr viewpoint to focus on Rryuu." Ryuu slowly began to grin at her as the surrounding environment shifted.

     "Stop!" M'leer yelled. She turned from the image of Ryuu's golden dragon to Wolf's red. Then she whirled on the human standing beside her. "That was _you_ who called for the music!"

     "Indeed it was!" Wolf laughed. "So, in fact, Ryuu _did not_ cheat!"

     "Then _you_ were the one to cheat on us!" V'yir screamed.

     "Uh-uh," Wolf shook his head. "You never made me or any other human adhere to any such agreement. That was only with Ryuu. In fact, Ryuu wasn't even aware of what I had done. That's why he was so pissed at me afterward. He said I used the wrong song!"

     "We would've won with a clear victory if you had called up ' _I'll Stand by You_ ' by the Temptations, instead," Ryuu laughed.

     "We would've won more substantially if Puma would just take a little more active role in these fights," Wolf complained. "As it is, we end up with too many of our victories being pyrrhic."

     "You use that tactic far too much!" V'yir shouted. "That none of us, save Sokon can even _catch_ her--!"

     "Well, that's for neither here, nor there," Ryuu interrupted, taking Puma by the shoulder to lead her out. "The next games are in forty-three years. You've got that long to come up with a plan that will beat our next strategy. And with any luck, we'll have another female for you to contend with, or we'll be back at the _DRAGON Homeworld_ and not have to bother with this again, assuming we don't _all_ get killed first."

     Mike ordered the Holodeck to resume its blank state and led Kylara out ahead of the rest.

     But just outside the Holodeck, Kylara saw Ryuu seemingly frozen in a trance with Puma nervously standing by watching him. Kylara looked around and saw everyone else, even the wherries, stop and stare at him with worried faces.

     "What's his problem?" Kylara inquired stepping forward, but Puma blocked her from approaching.

     "He's having another flashback," Puma replied, staring at her lover with concern. "He gets them so frequently lately."

     "Why is he having them?" Kylara asked.

     "You have to understand," Wolf spoke up. "We've lived for thousands of years, and we've seen things that would either boggle your mind, or drive you mad, if you were a normal human. But over time, even we begin to forget some of what we've seen. Occasionally, however, we get these flashbacks of past events.

     "But Ryuu was affected by a device built by our creators," Puma cut in. "It apparently altered him, making him suffer such events more frequently than the rest of us. Lately, they've been coming more often than normal even for him."

     "Has he lost his mind, then?" Kylara asked, beginning to feel a little anxious herself.

     "No," Puma replied. "He remembers things. Things he says that are important for him to remember. That's usually all we can get from him about them." Just then, Ryuu snapped out of his trance and glanced in surprise at his company.

     "Can you tell us?" M'leer asked.

     "S--some--something," Ryuu stammered, shaking to clear his head. "Back on Cottman IV, when we picked up those psionic amplifiers--there was that disruption of the Gateway."

     "Yeah, that was about fifty, or fifty-five years ago," Wolf recalled.

     "Disruptions? Of what Gateway?" Kylara demanded.

     "You remember I told you about how we change?" Mike asked her. "We've had times when we discovered we suddenly could no longer do so. Such events were sporadic and unpredictable. That one was a particularly bad one. It lasted for almost a full day. We all felt that we were going to die."

     "What does that mean?" Kylara asked, now very anxious. What would happen to her if they all did die and left her alone in this strange Hold?

     "Nothing for you to be concerned about," Ryuu muttered. "It's our problem."

     "So what about your flashback?" Wolf inquired.

     "I'm not certain," Ryuu replied, evidently puzzled. "Something just seemed to trigger it. But nothing we were doing just now should've related to that," he trailed off, looking back toward the Holodeck.

     "You know, since arriving here, we've learned that these natives taking one of us _between_ disrupts the Gateway," Mike spoke up. "Perhaps it was Lisa taking a ride on one of them back then. We've accounted for just about every other known cause, except for a few. Perhaps she caused those, too."

     "Maybe," Ryuu agreed uncertainly. "But it still doesn't explain _what_ it was that reminded me of that event."

 

     After he left Kylara with the others, Ryuu entered the Transporter Room alone. He grinned, thinking back on the little staged activity he had just showed her. Having probed her mind while in his dragon form, he knew her nature. He had expected her to throw some gasoline on the fire of their arguments, but her self-restraint surprised and pleased him.

     "Wait up, Ryuu!" Wolf called out just before the doors shut.

     "What's up," he asked as the ship held the doors open for them.

     "That's what I was going to ask you," Wolf said, staring at Ryuu, looking for an explanation. "That little incident with Mike has me concerned. That was more than 'just acting for Kylara's sake' you did back there."

     "True, it did result in the revelation of how we won this season's leadership," Ryuu said with a grin.

     "Mike may have accepted that explanation, but I know you," Wolf said as they fully entered the chamber.

     "Perhaps," Ryuu finally muttered, pausing over the transporter controls. Wolf had far too often acted as his conscience over the centuries. "I suppose the strain is starting to eat at me, too.

     "Chances were, there won't be any need to continue that tradition," Ryuu told him with a steely gaze. "Once we collect Lisa and go home, we'll likely never need to go through that again. Or we'll fail to get her and all of us will die here. One way or another, it will certainly be ended within forty-three years."

     "Does Lisa have good cause in evading us? In evading you?" Wolf asked. Ryuu smirked knowingly.

     "It could very well be," he said. "We are all deadly creatures." Wolf wasn't put off with the joke and continued to stare.

     "There was an incident long ago," Ryuu finally admitted. "She ran here to escape it. I did eventually resolve the problem, and her running certainly did save all our lives back then. But our problem now is that she's _still_ running and there's no way for us to convince her she doesn't need to do so any longer."

     "Is the way clear?" Ryuu asked the _Panthro_ as he set the coordinates for his return.

     "Sensors show the location clear," the ship reported. "However, you might wish to review the recordings of yesterday's festivities that happened after you and Puma left there."

     "Hmmm," Ryuu muttered after hearing the commotion caused by the young bronze rider's collapse. Evidently, the colonist had been holding Lisa tightly when she felt Ryuu use the Gateway. "Unavoidable that she would feel it when I threw off this disguise," he said. "The only question is did she panic?"

     "I was monitoring her physiology," Panthro told him. "While there was some concern evident from her vital signs, she kept her metabolism under control while the colonists looked for signs of the crew. She evidently could tell the difference between a person being injured due to a Gateway's activation and a phaser, even if the colonists could not."

     "Thank God for small favors," Wolf said, exasperated.

     "You were able to keep a scan on her?" Ryuu asked, astonished.

     "Sensors are functioning at ninety-two percent efficiency, which is more than enough to track you even inside the regional capitols," the _Panthro_ responded.

     "Shortly after the festivities were disrupted, Lisa returned to the regional capitol," the ship continued. "Per standing orders, scans were switched off when she got within thirty-eight kilohoramters of the Weyr."

     "Good," Ryuu said, nodding. "I'll head up there shortly to check on her. But before I go, I'd better get back into character. Cue up and playback the 'No Surrender/No Retreat Suite' by Chris Franke," he finished. As the music played, Ryuu recalled how he had sent Menolly that song through the contact with her natives the day before, and he allowed his mood to shift, so that he could resume the character that he had created to interact with the colonists.

     Then he looked at Wolf, who was still standing there, and grinned as a wicked idea entered his head.

     "So. How are you with tuning?" Ryuu suddenly asked.

     "What do you mean?"

     "Well, it will mean you will have to don a new disguise," Ryuu laughed, calling up the song on the display that came to his mind.

     "Yeah, since you were responsible for blowing my last one!" Wolf spat. "You know that was my favorite alternate look!" He glanced at the readout, and his eyes widened in surprise.

     "You should learn to be more flexible," Ryuu teased him.

 

Fort Hold:

     Later that evening, Jarod approached the empty stage. Reaching beneath it, he pulled out a small golden disk that just fit within his palm.

     "I have you now!" he chuckled.

     "Who do you have?" the voice made him start. Whirling, he saw it was Menolly, with her fire-lizards, looking at him with a suspicious attitude. "What do you have there?" she asked.

     "This?" Jarod asked, looking down at the object in his hand. "I'm not exactly sure. During the afternoon, I noticed someone moving rather furtively about the stage." He used his fingernail to pry open the object. "I suspect it's Ryuu's."

 

     Ryuu wasn't thrilled about the discovery, and certainly, he didn't need to reveal the technology to the colonists. It made him wince at the thought of Robinton and Fandarel tinkering with the device. But he knew their ship wouldn't allow the comm badge to activate and he considered himself lucky that he managed to reacquire the other one that had been planted beneath the table. But he did worry that Jarod's activites might compromise the mission....

 

     Later, Jarod went to Lisa to let her know what he had found and what he had seen of the person who had planted the device, whom he had tried to follow, but lost them.

     "All of the Harpercraft are looking for Ryuu," Jarod told her. "I'll pass you as much as I can about the search for the renegades."

     "I'm grateful for your help, but please get them to understand how they've got to be careful," Lisa pleaded. "I don't know how many others are working with Ryuu."

     "We're learning," Jarod assured her. "Fortunately, no one's been seriously hurt. But I did hear that you and J'gun were injured," Jarod said with concern. "Are you sure you two are alright?"

     "Yes, it was just a little jolt," Lisa replied. "J'gun seemed to have gotten the worst of it."

     "Hmm, you two must have triggered some sort of trap they set with the device," Jarod surmised. "I'll inform the MasterSmith to be careful, lest he activates it again. We've been lucky, so far."

     "That can change at any moment," Lisa said, shuddering at the thought at how, with their technology, they could easily lay to waste the entire planet and simply look for her life signs among the dead. For whatever reason she couldn't fathom, they weren't taking such an action now. However, that didn't mean they _wouldn't_ take lethal measures in a surgical action to extract one of their members if the colonists should capture them. Then she remembered Lessa's comments when they were searching for Ryuu and his accomplices. "I understand that the Weyrleaders had expected there to have been a flash of light associated with the attack. Can you tell me anything about that?"

     "Well, I was hoping you could tell me a little about that, seeing as how you came from the same time," Jarod said, scratching his chin in thought. Lisa nearly panicked at being caught by her own lies, but Jarod continued as if nothing was wrong. "Evidently, Ryuu found some tools--some Ancient-timer devices--which shoot out lightning bolts that can blast a dragon-sized hole in stone walls or can put people and dragons to sleep without harming them. I damaged one such device when I fought him at the SmithcraftHall, but I've been informed that he may have others or the means to repair the one I broke. If he had used such on you two, we expected there to have been some sort of flash of light. But obviously the device I found operates differently."

     His description reminded her of some of the phase-pistols that came with the colonists, or perhaps a modern version of the same from wherever Ryuu came. _So, they probably still don't know about our ability to Change,_ she guessed. "I see. Thank you," she said.

     After Jarod left, she pondered about what he had found. She summoned her tunnel-snake.

     "You heard our conversation? Could Ryuu have something that's triggered by my physiology, and J'gun just got in the way of it firing at me?" she asked. "If he and I have similar abilities, then maybe he's found a weakness in us that he could exploit!"

     "That is a distinct possibility, Mistress," her monitor replied. "If so, then the logical tactic would to lay out such devices like a mine field to hem in your movements. If it's a non-lethal and incapacitating device, then even if they were caught by their own traps, they could rely on their companions to extract them. You, on the other hand, would be vulnerable to capture, or at least discovery."

     "Then what can we do about them?" she fearfully asked.

     "The Pernese will have taken the object to Telgar," the tunnel-snake replied. "My counterpart is closer, and can get to the SmithcraftHall and report what he finds. There is also the possibility that the event was simply caused by Ryuu Changing, and the feedback through you was what injured J'gun. Remember, after the initial shock, you said you felt it again while you were being interrogated."

     "Let's hope so!" Lisa shuddered.

 


	28. Part 28

**Part 28:**

 

Fort Weyr, Present Pass, 14.2.14:

     "Now this is a treat," Jarod said to Lisa as he approached. On the stage, Menolly, Sebell, and a few other journeymen and apprentices were about to play a selection of songs.

     "Yes, it is," Lisa agreed. J'gun nodded as well, squeezing her hand. Her constant worry that Ryuu would Change again made her quickly pull away, and she felt bad that she was sending the wrong signals to the bronze rider. But she couldn't risk it, even though it had been over four months since the last event.

     She winced in sympathy as Jarod settled down beside her opposite J'gun. He was almost late for the start due to his injured leg, and it wasn't long before they started playing.

     The harpers started with the "Question Song."

 

_Gone away, gone ahead_

_Echoes roll unanswered_

_Empty, open, dusty, dead_

_Why have all the Weyrfolk fled?_

_Where have dragons gone together_

_Leaving Weyrs to wind and weather_

_Setting herdbeasts free of tether_

_Gone our safeguards, gone, but wither?_

_Have they flown to some new Weyr_

_Where cruel Thread some others fear?_

_Are they worlds away from here?_

_Why, oh why, the empty Weyr?_

_Gone away, gone ahead_

_Echoes roll unanswered_

_Empty, open, dusty, dead_

_Why have all the Weyrfolk fled?_

 

     The music made her recall those turbulent Turns. More than four hundred Turns ago, she was staying at Southern Boll at the time, when she suddenly heard all the dragons go _between_. She was as surprised as everyone else on the planet, and the explanations were generally uninformative. Benden Weyr was the only remaining Weyr, and when she had an opportunity to see the Weyrleaders, she could tell their dragons knew more than what the Weyrleaders or the MasterHarper were telling.

     Then, almost twenty-five Turns later, she heard them all arrive. Curiosity made her depart her latest home in Ista Hold to travel to the nearest Weyr, but by the time she got there, they had departed again. After that amount of time, the Benden leadership was unaware of what was happening, and so were singularly uninformative. It would be another twenty-five Turns before she would hear them arrive again, and she realized they were jumping in stages to another time for some unknown reason.

     When the time of the third arrival approached, she secreted herself into Fort Weyr to await their return. Sure enough, the entire Weyr showed up, led by a Weyrwoman riding an enormous queen! _A Weyrwoman and a gold dragon from the future!_ The enormity of the operation shocked her. Stunned in awe, Lisa only just managed to avoid being seen by the weyrfolk as they checked over their Weyr, abandoned for the periodic jumps.

     After that, she resolved to stay away and allow this Lessa and her Ramoth to guide them to their destination. When it became clear that Thread was not going to drop after the eighth appearance and disappearance of the dragonriders, she knew this was another Long Interval, and she could only guess where, or rather when, they were headed, if not exactly why.

     Later, there came a day of a mysterious illness that disrupted her ability to Change. Fortunately, it only lasted a single day, but she never figured out what caused it, any more than of those previous times that disrupted her ability. Although she had learned early on that riding a dragon _between_ would do it, there were other occasions that baffled her.

     Then, one day, she heard that the Lord of Ruatha had a daughter, named Lessa. Knowing it was too much of a coincidence, she sought out this little girl to watch her grow and try to learn why she would undertake such a journey.

     As a drudge living in the lower caverns, she kept a surreptitious eye on the girl as she and her siblings played and ran about the Hold.

     Warnings came that an ambitious Lord Holder had been expanding his holdings, but Fax's invasion still caught everyone, Lisa included, by surprise. It was all very confusing, as she sensed Ramoth's arrival above the Hold! Horrified, she lost track of Lessa and worried that maybe the past would be changed forever if the girl was caught and killed.

     With Fax and his men raping all the women they could find, Lisa transformed into a tunnel-snake to join with her monitors and departed Ruatha for Fort.

     Groghe of Fort Hold, she found, had resolved to stand up to Fax, should he try to invade. But the attack never came. For a man with an appetite like Hitler's, it seemed that, for once, the conqueror's appetite was sated.

     Ten long tense Turns ensued and were finally over, when a few days after sensing the dragons at the Weyrs once more, dragonriders from Benden showed up at Ruatha and put the Lord of Seven Holds down. The event caught all of Pern completely by surprise. Equally surprising was that Lessa, the little girl that Lisa feared killed, had indeed survived! And she Impressed Benden's last remaining queen: _Ramoth_! Moreover, F'lar, over the objections of the Weyrleader R'gul, was spreading word that Thread was returning.

     And so, the secret as to why the mysterious Weyrwoman undertook such an action was finally revealed.

 

_Black, blacker, blackest_

_And cold beyond all frozen things_

_Where is_ between _where there is naught_

_To life but fragile dragon wings?_

_Cold as death, death bearing_

_Stay and die unguided_

_Brave and braving linger_

_This way was twice decided_

_A fleck of red in a cold night sky_

_A drop of blood to guide them by_

_Turn away, Turn away, Turn be gone_

_A Red Star leads the riders on_

_Cold as death, death bearing_

_Stay and die unguided_

_Brave and braving linger_

_This way was twice decided_

_How shall they last the long journey_

_Lured on but by this woven star?_

_How can they find that which they seek_

_And make their way home from afar?_

_Cold as death, death bearing_

_Stay and die unguided_

_Brave and braving linger_

_This way was twice decided_

_What can they say to bring forward_

_The Weyrfolk from another time?_

_Is Hope merely illusion_

_That clings to life in desperate minds?_

_Cold as death, death bearing_

_Stay and die unguided_

_Brave and braving linger_

_This way was twice decided_

_Yet promise lives by those of heart_

_Salvation lies within the song_

_Revealed by Lessa Weyrwoman_

_There will be Five Weyrs strong!_

_Cold as death, death bearing_

_Stay and die unguided_

_Brave and braving linger_

_This way was twice decided_

_Cold as death, death bearing_

_Stay and die unguided_

_Brave and braving linger_

_This way was twice decided_

 

     Turns later, after Ramoth's first clutching, Lessa made the long jump _between_ to go back then. And three days later, all the missing Weyrs showed up at Ruatha, led by the triumphant Lessa and Ramoth.

     Lisa was wiping away the flood of tears as "Lessa's Ride" finished. She couldn't recall a more moving performance.

     "Are you okay?" J'gun asked with concern. Lisa nodded.

     "It's just such a moving story," she told him.

     "That it is," Jarod quietly agreed.

 

     Most of the harpers took a break while a large journeyman, named Lakee, played solo on his gitar, with his deep resonant voice clearly reaching the audience.

 

_She looked at me across the room_

_Emerging from a silk cocoon_

_Alone beneath Venetian chandeliers_

_Against the moons her body rocks_

_Her eyes were cunning like a fox_

_The wings of passion fly on all frontiers_

_From this fire there's no returning_

_No escape your heart is burning_

_Love becomes a lethal weapon_

_No one is too smart in affairs of the heart_

_Uh-huh_

_In affairs of the heart_

_Now upon the bridge she waits_

_Dreaming of our tangled fates_

_Her face was like a ghost with eyes of jade_

_I fell just like a falling star_

_A victim of this coup d'_ _état_

_I could not see behind this masquerade_

_From this fire there's no returning_

_No escape your heart is burning_

_Love becomes a lethal weapon_

_Be careful where you start in affairs of the heart_

_In affairs of the heart_

_In affairs of the heart_

_Sometimes I think I'll never learn_

_Were all those promises in vain_

_Do the winds of fire still remain_

_All is fair in love and war_

_The tender draw the shortest straw_

_Like autumn leaves they vanish in the air_

_Is this the time we say goodbye_

_I call her room there's no reply_

_Tonight we end this fleeting love affair_

_From this fire there's no returning_

_No escape your heart is burning_

_Love becomes a lethal weapon_

_Sharper than a dart in affairs of the heart_

_In affairs of the heart_

_In affairs of the heart_

_In affairs of the heart_

     Lisa sat transfixed by the harper, the song tugging at memories she thought long ago buried by the Turns. So many lives she had, so many lives and lovers that she had to leave. How did she manage to survive with each loss, each decision to leave, and each heart that she undoubtedly broke?

 

     Wolf, in his disguise as the harper Lakee, spotted the disguised Ryuu sitting among the audience, who was keeping an eye on their target and the people around her. Three months earlier, he had infiltrated the HarperHall, with Ryuu's assistance, and worked his way closer to the association with the leadership. Then, at the prearranged time, they introduced a distorted version of this song into their presence, working with the masters to "refine" it back to what it originally was.

     That, he found, was the hardest part: not giving away the completed effort too soon. But Ryuu helped him there, as well. Ryuu guided him to stay patient and on track while keeping up interference between him and the suspicious colonists that otherwise would've revealed the fake harper to them all.

     It amazed Wolf to actually watch Ryuu work, knowing that Ryuu often had a lack of patience himself. However, when it came to the subtleties and deceptions needed for their alter egos, Ryuu did reveal that he was a true master.

     But then, Wolf recalled that one of the Skorr, T'jor, often remarked that Ryuu could flawlessly play all three sides of a two-sided chess game. Only after having worked with Ryuu for several centuries, did Wolf understand what he meant. Still, it was amazing to watch it in progress.

 

     "You know that was risky," Wolf later spoke to Ryuu when he had an opportunity to separate himself from the harpers. "Don't you know that we've all got strong associative memories? If she recognizes that was an Emerson, Lake and Palmer song, she's going to bolt."

     "Don't worry, 'Lakee'," Ryuu said, grinning. "Even if she does recognize it, she knows that I've been spreading unauthorized ballads to flush her out. By the way, that was a good job. You should feel proud of your talent."

     "Just make sure you don't get caught by your own traps," Wolf warned him, poking a finger into Ryuu's chest.

     "Oh, they're not my traps," he quietly laughed. "They're the colonists'. Besides, where's the challenge of playing it safe? They'd never expect me to be dancing this close to them."

     "It's not the colonists I'm worried about. It's Lisa," Wolf finished before turning to rejoin the other harpers.

     Ryuu sighed.

     "I know," he muttered to himself. "Me, too."

 

     Menolly stayed apart from the others, needing a break from all the extra singing she had been doing. As she listened to Sebell and the others play, she sat behind Jarod to keep an eye on him. She watched as the man seemed distracted about something and wasn't paying attention to the music. Then, during a pause between songs, she watched as he leaned over to whisper something to the young gold rider he had been sitting next to. Menolly thought it odd that the girl had suddenly stiffened as if nervous. She leaned closer to catch what he was telling her.

     "Don't worry, I will confront Ryuu," she overheard him say. "And one way or another, one of us will be finished."

     His words didn't seem to make the girl relax, but whatever the meaning of the remark was, their conversation was put off by the arrival of the bronze weyrling who'd rejoined the gold rider on her other side, bringing her meatrolls and some wine. And then she could no longer stay to watch Jarod, as she was needed on the stage again.

     At the end of their performance, she separated herself from Sebell to follow Jarod to the necessary. She watched as he pulled a mark from his pouch and tossed it into the air. After catching it, he slapped it down on his arm and looked at it with a sigh, muttering, "Sorry Jarod.You lose," as he put the mark back into his pouch before entering the chamber.

 


	29. Part 29

**Part 29:**

 

Harperhall, Present Pass, 14.5.17:

     "Where's the MasterHarper?" Sebell asked Menolly as he suddenly burst into the Great Hall.

     "He's at Fort Weyr," she replied, perplexed by his agitation. She also saw that he was dressed in the manner of the undercover errands that the MasterHarper sometimes sent him on. "What's wrong?"

     "We just got word that somebody's been recruiting renegades in Keroon Heights, just across the river from Igen," Sebell responded. He looked about the chamber for something then picked up a patch of hide and pen and started writing.

     "You're leaving? Right now?" Menolly asked astonished.

     "There's no time to lose," Sebell told her, finishing the note and getting his gold fire-lizard's attention. "Word is the person is a woman," he said as he tied the note to Kimi's arm. "It sounds like Thella, even though this person doesn't seem to look like her. But who else could it be?

     "Kimi, go find Master Robinton," he told his queen. "Make sure he gets this note! Go now!"

     "Sebell, does it have to be you?" Menolly asked as Kimi, followed by Rocky, went _between_. She was worried at the implications of Sebell's rush and the spontaneity that her bronze just exhibited.

     "I'm sorry," Sebell said, giving her a strong hug before releasing her. "There's no time! And if I and Master Tuck's people don't get on her trail this moment, we'll lose her! And it's going to be hard enough sneaking in without being seen as it is! I love you!" he told her as he planted a hard kiss on her lips and was out the door before the stunned girl could respond.

 

Fort Weyr:

     "...and these are the latest conversions for Master Wansor," Jarod told Robinton, handing him a bundle of sheets as they walked out to the landing field. Robinton had just completed a routine meeting with N'ton, and taking that opportunity, Jarod requested the MasterHarper to convey the work he and Jaxom had completed to date.

     "Good day, Serith," Jarod greeted as they came up to the dragon waiting there.

     The blue dragon snorted a response to the humans, which cut off abruptly when Rocky and Kimi emerged from _between_ , chirping frantically.

     "They seem rather agitated," Jarod remarked in a droll fashion as Zair took flight, echoing his companions' excitement. Then the crippled harper watched his Master's face suddenly pale as he read the note, after having coaxed the creatures down.

     "MasterHarper? What's happened?" Jarod asked suddenly serious in his attitude.

     "Noth-nothing you should be concerned with, Jarod," Robinton stuttered as he clambered up the dragon's arm.

     Jarod hastily moved away to allow the beast to rise and he stared at them as they vanished.

     "Is that so?" Jarod muttered to himself. Then, with a grim continence, he left.

 

Harperhall:

     Menolly was at the entrance to the Hall to meet Robinton when he arrived. Rocky obeyed for once and returned to her when she called, but Kimi never came back, having left to follow Sebell. Her other fire-lizards were winging about above her head, all of them upset at their mistress' concern.

     "He's already left, MasterHarper," Menolly told Robinton as he rushed up the ramp.

     "Zair, go find Master Tuck!" Robinton told his fire-lizard. Then to Menolly, he gave her a reassuring smile.

     "He'll be alright," he told her. "Tuck has several of his best people working to find Thella." Then he sighted Master Traller and left Menolly standing there in the courtyard. Worried, she began to pace back and forth.

     She soon lost track of time and was startled by the sudden appearance of Jarod. She had never heard him arrive, nor had her fair alerted her to his approach.

     "Jarod!" she gasped. "You scared me!"

     "Is everything all right?" Jarod sternly asked her, and Menolly was taken aback by his manner. The pain he evidently endured from his ruined knee often made the man rather dower and short of humor, however there were occasions when he tried to make light of it. But his features showed a determination and seriousness she had never seen in him before. Then, unexpectedly, he advanced on her, catching her chin with a firm grip. Beauty, who was at her customary perch, suddenly let out a pained whine.

     "What has happened?" Jarod demanded in a low voice, but she was too stunned to respond to him as his eyes bore into her face. Several moments passed, she realized, with neither of them moving. Then the former-runner gave Beauty a sharp glance, then released Menolly and turned and quickly limped away.

     "J-J-Jarod?" she stuttered, but the man never acknowledged her as he left the Harperhall.

     _He hurts,_ Beauty sadly told her.

     "What?" Menolly asked her queen, astonished.

     _Bad woman made him angry,_ Beauty said. _He goes to find her!_

     "Jarod?" Menolly gasped. "He's gone after Sebell and Thella? He's going to interfere with Master Tuck's work to catch her!"

     Menolly rushed for the arch, chasing after Jarod. But when she turned the corner to where she last saw the crippled harper, he was gone.

     "Where did he go?" Menolly asked, perplexed by the disappearance.

     _Jarod is gone,_ Beauty reported with eyes whirling with agitation. _Ryuu will be there!_

     "Ryuu!" she gasped.

 

     "MasterHarper Robinton! Master Tuck!" Menolly shouted when she got to Robinton's closed door.

     The door jerked open after she pounded on it.

     "Menolly?" Robinton exclaimed as he stared at her.

     "Master! Jarod's gone off after Sebell!" Menolly told them in a rush. The news evidently had an immediate chilling effect on both masters as they gasped in surprise.

     "What do you mean?" Traller asked.

     "He just showed up and demanded to know what was going on," Menolly told them. "I-I couldn't answer, then he just suddenly left. But Beauty told me that he was going after Thella!"

     "Can you be certain that's what she told you?" Robinton asked astonished.

     "The fire-lizards all know from Snap that Thella is the 'bad woman,'" Menolly explained. "The image that accompanied what Beauty told me confirmed it was her, and that Jarod is going to find her!"

     "We've got to stop him," Traller said. "He's in no shape to take on those renegades! And if they find him, it will alert Thella!"

     "It's worse!" Menolly added. "Beauty said that Ryuu is going to be there!"

     "Ryuu?" Robinton and Traller both yelled. Traller's face suddenly turned alarmingly pale.

     "Jarod always said he's after Ryuu!" Traller said. "And Ryuu is evidently also hunting Thella! That's why Jarod wants to find her! He must know that Ryuu would likely show up if she were ever found!"

     "We'd better get after Jarod, then!" Robinton said to Traller. "We'll be back as soon as we locate him!"

     "But Jarod's presence will jeopardize Sebell and the others!" Menolly protested. "We've got to warn them!"

     "Let us deal with that, young lady!" Robinton sternly told her.

     It galled at her that she would be severely disobeying him, but Menolly just couldn't accept standing by and waiting for them to come back. After Robinton and Traller left on dragon-back, she sent Brownie with an urgent request to the same brown rider who had taken Sebell.

 

Keroon Heights:

     "Remember, Ryuu can hear dragons," Menolly told Sh'lack as his brown descended after emerging from _between_. "We want his attention to remain focused on the dragons that brought Masters Robinton and Tuck."

     "No problem, Menolly," Sh'lack told her. "We're some two thousand dragonlengths behind them, and I told Graith not to call out when we arrive. I'll fly you about half-way there and set you down."

     The brown dragonrider guided his beast to stay low on the terrain and they weaved in and out of the gullies. Menolly almost lost her breakfast, not being used to the acrobatics that dragons could pull. The motions were not much different from being on a boat, but something about the flying made her worry that she would disgrace not only the Harperhall, but also her Seahold. Her fire-lizards remained quiet as they held onto her, Sh'lack, and the brown's riding straps. To Menolly's chagrin, their eyes showed their excited joy at the ride.

     They landed silently, and Menolly thanked the Fort rider, who then departed the way they had come. She then trekked through the forest, navigating the terrain as best she could to make her way toward Sebell and the Masters. She moved as silently as she was able, all the while watching for signs of Jarod or Ryuu. Long after the motions of the flight left her, she still felt nauseous, and finally attributed it to her worry for Sebell and Robinton.

 

     "Wait here, Robinton," Traller whispered to the MasterHarper. They were still well out of sight of the renegades' camp. "I wish we could've done something about your hair, but that can't be helped now. Wait here in the bushes and I'll try to find Pinch or Sebell." Traller promptly disappeared into the forest.

     Robinton grimaced at the mention of his rapidly silvering crown. There was still plenty of dark hair, but lately, month-by-month, and he could swear it was day-by-day, more and more of his locks lost their color. He stayed still as he knelt in the brush with the hood of his cloak over his head. He couldn't look about without making too much noise that might alert a sentry, but Zair kept a sharp eye open for anyone approaching. Nothing happened for several long minutes, but then Zair's head perked up. Obeying Robinton's order, the bronze fire-lizard didn't make any noise, but his eyes now whirled green instead of his previous flashes of reds and yellows. _It must be Tuck, back with Sebell or one of his people,_ Robinton decided.

     Indeed, it was better than he hoped. Both Sebell and Pinch accompanied the Masterrunner.

     "The camp is just over the ridge," Sebell told Robinton. "We're waiting for their leader to show before we go into action."

     "There's a complication," Tuck explained. "We just got word that Jarod came out here."

     "Jarod?" Pinch asked astonished. "Now why would he come out here?"

     "We have reason to believe he's hunting Ryuu," Robinton told them.

     " _Ryuu--?_ And possibly, Thella?" Pinch had a hard time keeping his voice low.

     "Crippled as he is, there's no way he's going to be able to keep from getting discovered," Sebell spat. "But how can we locate him before the renegades see him?"

     "Can you use your fire-lizards?" Pinch asked.

     "No," Tuck said, shaking his head. "With the pain he feels from his leg, Snap doesn't like talking to him. None of the fire-lizards want to find him."

     "Is that so?" Robinton inquired, surprised by that information, and he rapidly thought through the implications that would mean. "That's very interesting."

     But just then, a commotion sounded through the woods. It was very evident that the renegades had encountered the harpers and Lord Corman's men surrounding their camp, and just as obvious, they had no choice but to prematurely spring their trap. Robinton, Tuck, Sebell, and Pinch instantly joined in, and in a short time, order was restored with the capture of everyone who had been in the camp. Then there was the interminable period where the renegades made offers of information for leniency, but Robinton wasn't in the mood to deal as he worried that not only had Thella not been there, but neither were Jarod or Ryuu evident. If those three were anywhere within a score of dragonlengths from the camp, they'd know now not to come closer.

     "Nearly thirty malcontents," a runner who had infiltrated the group reported after the excitement was over. We got everybody who was here, but we missed the Lady. She wasn't here."

     "Was it Thella?" Sebell asked.

     "Don't know," the runner answered, shaking his head. "She never gave us her name. If it's Thella, she's keeping quiet about it. She knows the bounty on her head. Any one of these would turn her in if he thought he could collect on the reward."

     "What happened?" Robinton angrily demanded.

     "One of their sentries sighted Persey and Marlee," the runner replied. "Would've slit their throats if we hadn't jumped them." The man shook his head at the wasted effort.

 

     Menolly heard a commotion ahead and crouched down to hide. Just then, she saw a gaunt woman in rags rushing away from the noise. Evidently, the woman didn't see Menolly or her fire-lizards, which was a relief since she didn't have the outfit for stealth.

     Having learned about tracking from Sebell and Pinch, Menolly stayed hidden for several minutes to allow a safe distance from her quarry. While she was waiting, she spotted another person following the same path the woman had taken. Jarod!

     Once he was out of sight, she followed him. His trail was far easier to spot than that of the woman's. Menolly just hoped that Jarod could track better than she could, otherwise, they might both end up being ambushed.

 


	30. Part 30

**Part 30:**

 

Keroon Heights, Present Pass, 14.5.18:

     The feline-and-rodent hunting game went all night long and into the dawn twilight. Menolly guessed that Robinton had called in dragonriders to help search the wilderness when Beauty and the others reported the presence of the dragons. Several times, too, she almost stumbled upon Sebell and other harpers as she tried to follow Jarod. As much as she wanted to run to them and ensure that he was safe, Menolly knew that by doing so, she would only get herself in trouble. Besides, she had her own growing suspicions about Jarod that she wasn't ready to explain to the MasterHarper just yet. And if she were caught, she knew that she'd disgrace herself if forced to reveal them without any evidence. So she stayed hidden. Her fire-lizards kept her informed and out of danger.

     Jarod, for all the noise and trail that he left, somehow managed to avoid being seen by both dragon and harper as he tracked Thella deeper into the mountains. Menolly followed and they all departed the search area.

 

Harpercraft Hall, daybreak:

     "Well that was a colossal waste of time and effort!" Robinton spat when he and Sebell stepped down from the brown Graith that carried them in. True, they had managed to break up one of Thella's bands, but she, once more, slipped through their fingers.

     The dragon's rider, Sh'lack, looked about with some concern as he scanned the other dragons bringing in harpers from the search.

     "MasterHarper," he called out to the departing men, "I don't see your girl journeyman. Did she find you out there okay?"

     "What?" both Robinton and Sebell both yelled as they spun about.

     "After I carried Sebell to the site, she called me back to ferry her to you. She said that she had some urgent message to deliver to you. But I don't see her here. We didn't leave her out there, did we?" Robinton and Sebell stared at each other in shock.

 

Keroon Heights:

     "What are you doing here?" Jarod growled, suddenly stepping from around the bend on the cliffside trail to confront her.

     Surprised, Menolly gasped, as did all her fire-lizards.

     "W-wh-wha-what am _I_ doing here?" Menolly stammered taking a step back. "What are _you_ doing here?"

     "I'm _after_ Ryuu, and _he's_ hunting Thella!" Jarod snarled, taking a step forward. "When Ryuu finds her, _I'll_ be there! So what is your involvement in this?"

     "I-I--" she stammered, taking another step back. Suddenly, Menolly's ears rang at Beauty's piercing scream, and Jarod's eyes showed alarm as he lunged for her, making Menolly instinctively step back once more. Only, she realized too late, there was nothing for her to step back on.

     It all happened so fast. Jarod's free hand momentarily caught her clothing just as her feet dropped out from beneath her. Menolly, screaming in terror, whipped her arms about, looking for something to grab, and her right hand was stung as it grappled something cold, hard, and round, but at least it was solid and appeared to stop her plunge. Quickly, her left hand sought the same purchase just as she looked up to see what had saved her. It was the handle of Jarod's cane, and he was holding on to the other end.

     Then, she remembered something horrible. The handle was the hilt of a blade Jarod kept hidden in the cane. That handle was designed to come out!

     Menolly suddenly fought to climb the slick metal rod, trying to reach the section that Jarod was holding, but her hands kept slipping back, stopping only when her hands jarred against the handle again and again.

     " _STOP DOING THAT!_ " Jarod screamed at her.

     "YOUR BLADE!" Menolly screamed back. "IT'S COMING LOOSE!"

     Beauty and all the rest of her fire-lizards were just screaming.

     " _NO IT'S NOT!_ " Jarod bellowed. " _IT'S LOCKED IN PLACE!_ STOP THAT SQUIRMING, OR YOU'LL PULL THE DAMNED THING OUT OF MY HANDS!"

     Breathless, Menolly did as she was told and hung there holding onto the handle. Her fair was all about her and several of them now latched onto her back trying to help lift her up.

     "That's better!" Jarod gasped. "Just calm down and I'll help pull you back up!"

     Menolly looked about, her body now behaving far more calmly than she felt, and she saw how she hung off a small overhang that would keep her from being able to use her feet or hands to aid in climbing. Dozens of dragonlengths below her and partially obscured by low-lying fog, she could just make out the tops of many jagged rocks waiting for her to fall. Jarod was above her, his stomach over the edge of the precipice and his face red from exertion as he gripped tightly on to the end of his cane, her only lifeline.

     Then, incredibly, Jarod began using his left hand to pull the end of his cane up, letting it slide inch-by-inch through his right hand. His breathing became a loud hiss while he struggled and she could see the tendons of his right hand bulge out as he gripped it so that he could shift the grip of his left hand to continue pulling her up. It seemed now to take forever for his right hand to pass the halfway point on the dark metal bar, but the further he pulled, the quicker it seemed for him to make progress. Finally, his right hand reached three-quarters of the cane's length.

     Then, as if she couldn't be any more impressed, Jarod gripped hard once more with his right hand while he brought his left back to the end of the cane and levered the cane out horizontal, pulling her up even further. Her head finally came level with the bottom of the overhang, but the rock was too shear for her to try gripping it.

     "Move one of your hands between mine!" he breathlessly hissed. She could tell he was breathing easier when she did so.

     "That's better!" Jarod gasped as dripping sweat rained from his forehead to fall stinging into her eyes, making her blink. "Okay, I'll pull you up and once you can grab my arms, you start climbing up my back. Do you understand?"

     Menolly nodded nervously. Her fire-lizards were still struggling to pull her up as well, but she was thankful they had stopped much of their cries.

     Suddenly, Jarod's body shifted forward. He quickly glanced at his belly and then back to her. His face, which had been a dark red this whole time, was suddenly white.

     "Uh-oh!" Jarod nervously muttered.

     "Menolly?" he quietly inquired, smiling at her. "Trust me!" He then began swinging her right and left.

     "JAROD?" she screamed alarmed, her eyes opening wide. But then more sand fell into her eyes and she couldn't see any more. " _JAROD!_ " she screamed again as she felt herself rise higher with each swing. Sand continued to fall upon her face, so she couldn't open her eyes to see what he was trying to do.

     "Hold on!" Jarod shouted at her. Then, before she could respond, Jarod, with a deep roar, swung her out away from the cliff, and just as incredibly, he let her go! Then, as she spun out of control, she felt her fire-lizards all abandon her.

     Menolly began to scream in terror, but her breath was knocked out of her by a powerful impact to her side, and then she instantly slammed into the ground on her stomach, getting a crack to the face from the rocky ground.

     Her only thought, as she lay dying, was how odd it was that her fall seemed very short.

 

Fort Weyr:

     Lisa felt Ryuu Change, and she glanced about, trying to see if he had done his Change within her sight. But the early morning routine at the Weyr appeared undisturbed. Voith was the only other one to know that something had happened, and her gold dragon angrily hissed at the attack on her mistress, momentarily interrupting the lesson on going _between_.

     "I'm sorry, Weyrleader," Lisa apologized to N'ton after silently telling Voith to say nothing about the electric jolt she had felt. "I don't know what's gotten her upset. Probably just a tinge of hunger, I suppose. We'll get something after the lesson, Voith," she told her dragon. The explanation seemed to satisfy the Weyrleader.

     But as N'ton resumed his lesson, Lisa began to worry.

     _What could have induced Ryuu to_ Change _again after nearly six months after the last time?_ she wondered.

     Then, she suddenly got cold with fear. Jarod, who was supposed to have been on star watching duty two nights ago, never showed and hadn't been seen since Robinton was here. Could _he_ have gotten word as to where Ryuu was hiding? If the harper confronted the alien, possibly wounding him, Ryuu would've been forced to _Change_! Then what horror would Jarod suddenly be faced with? And would Jarod be able to keep his tongue from speaking about her if that monster decided to play with his victim? _Or his thoughts?_ she suddenly dreaded. If Ryuu chose to take the form of a dragon, the alien would be able to easily sift through the harper's mind for the clues needed to track her down!

 

Keroon Heights:

     An inquiring trill sounded in her ear and a snaking forked tongue deep into a nostril jolted Menolly awake. Cracking the back of her head when she jerked away from the probe only put her in a foul mood at the discovery that she wasn't dead.

     "Jarod! When I get my hands on you...." she growled as she rubbed the grit from her eyes. But the view that she could see when her vision cleared only confused her. Looking about, she was surprised that she was back on the trail.

     "Beauty?" Menolly asked. "What happened? Where's Jarod?"

     _No more pain,_ Beauty sadly replied.

     "Show me what happened!" Menolly demanded, suddenly dreading what she suspected. Beauty and the other fire-lizards then sent her the image of Menolly dangling over the cliff. As they tried to help lift her, Jarod began to slide off the cliff. He told them to trust him as he began swinging Menolly right and left, getting her higher with each swing, but causing him to slip with each move. Then, just as Jarod began to go over the edge, he swung her out and up, letting go of his cane at the height of the move. Beauty and the others helped as best as they could and brought Menolly to land on the trail. But for Jarod, he was gone.

     "Oh, no!" Menolly whispered in horror. He had sacrificed himself to save her! " _JAROD!_ " she screamed as she scrambled over to the edge to look over. But the depths were now hidden in dark shadows.

     Just then, she heard a man chuckling above her. When she looked up, she got a new shock. Ryuu was standing by her elbow leaning over the void with an impressed expression on his face. Horrified, she scrambled back away from him and up against the rocky wall above the trail. In her panic, her arms sought out a weapon to defend herself against the renegade dragonrider--any weapon--and she found one. Jarod's heavy metal cane.

     "Well, he did send me a message that only one of us was walking off this mountain," Ryuu said grinning as he looked over the edge. He then smirked at her. "I guess you saved us all the decision as to which it would be."

     Then, as Ryuu walked past her to go up the trail, Menolly swung Jarod's cane at Ryuu, but the man instantly dropped to his knees and blocked the blow with his hands, wrenching the heavy walking stick from her grasp. He then grabbed her by the collar and slammed her against the rock. In response, she pulled her belt knife, but dropping the cane, Ryuu caught her wrist.

     _Beauty! Why aren't you helping me?_ she screamed in her mind.

     "Would you so quickly throw away the life _he_ just worked so hard to save?" Ryuu growled into her face as he wrenched the blade from her hand. He raised it up over her head and brought it down.

     Terrified, she shut her eyes and tensed for the impact.

     " _BEAUTY!_ "

     She heard the knife hit flesh, and heard her fire-lizards scream, as it surely penetrated whatever part of her body that Ryuu was stabbing. She waited for the pain to begin then opened her eyes when it puzzled her that none was forthcoming. The sight that greeted her nearly stopped her heart. The handle of the blade was right in front of her nose, and the blade was driven to the hilt into the arm that held her pinned against the rock wall. And Ryuu's stony face was just on the other side of the knife.

     "You want my blood?" Ryuu demanded with a hiss. "Well here it is! Take all you want!" He held fingers of his right hand in front of her face dripping with the crimson fluid oozing from the wound in his left arm. "Does it look so different from anyone else's? Does it taste any better?" he demanded, smearing some of it onto her bruised lips. "Is it so special that you've just got to have some?" Ryuu yelled.

     "Jarod died trying to save me," Menolly hissed back at him. "I caused him to die, when it looks like he was here to stop whatever you were planning!"

     "Hmph!" Ryuu snorted. "You think you know so much, don't you? Tell me, how did someone so young as you lose so much wisdom so quickly?"

     "What do you mean?" Menolly asked puzzled by such a question.

     "Do us both a couple of favors, will you?" Ryuu mocked her. "Number one: _Go home!_ " He released her and stood up to glare down at her.

     "Wh--what's th-the other?" she fearfully asked, looking up at him. In response, Ryuu gripped the knife handle sticking from his forearm, and with a flinching snarl, yanked the blade free.

     "Next time, put an edge on this," Ryuu said, holding her knife for her to see. "That actually hurt." Then he carelessly tossed the blade away over the cliff and walked away from her up the trail, leaving her stunned by what just happened.

     _And why didn't you help me when he was attacking me?_ she wondered, glaring at her fire-lizards.

     _Ryuu hurts,_ Beauty whined. _You hurt him._

 

     _What was taking them so long? What was that screaming? Why couldn't they just leave me alone?_

     Thella slowly edged out of her hideout. _My hideout,_ she sighed. What was once a decent hold in a cliff side high above a difficult-to-navigate river was now little more than a bolt-hole. There were several cotholds up and down the canyon which she planned to use as sentry locations. The walls of the Hold, proper, had crumbled after Turns of neglect and the roof had collapsed in several places, but enough usable cisterns remained to support a few hundred people. The still functional plumbing in the presumed Lord Holder's quarters had provided her with the first bath in months, but when she'd inadvertently glanced at her reflection in the water, she'd broke down in tears. Her eyes were now hollow spots reflecting sleepless nights where a monstrous gold dragon pursued her through her dreams making lethal threats. Her face was covered in pockmarked scar tissue from her meeting with that dragon and its rider, her cheeks were hollow from malnutrition, and the rags she wore as clothing completed her destitute appearance.

     She crept around a boulder on the trail and spotted her pursuers, a man and a woman. She didn't recognize either of them, and she didn't see the crippled man she had caught glimpses of as she evaded last night's pursuit. The screaming that lured her back on the trail had stopped, and it looked like one of her pursuers was threatening the other with a knife. If the threat was meant to silence the screams, Thella thought it was a bit late for that, as everyone in the valley must've heard them already. As she watched, the knife-wielder suddenly stuck it into his own arm!

     _What kind of crazies did they have chasing me now?_ They'd have to be crazy to follow her up a trail like this. Twice she'd nearly triggered an avalanche with a misplaced step, but still they followed her.

     _Why couldn't they just leave me alone? What could be gained from my death?_

     It was becoming increasingly difficult to find anyone willing to accompany her, as most would rather turn her in for reward, the only reason this latest group hadn't was that they hadn't recognized her, although she knew rumors had been floating around. But with her appearance so different from what she had been, they all believed her to be simply an ambitious woman looking to eek out a legitimate existence by restoring a long-abandoned hold, which was the truth. She was tired of living in rags and ruins, sickness and squalor.

     The man withdrew the knife from his arm, shook it menacingly in the other's face, and tossed it away. The girl looked like she was going to be ill, but the man continued up the trail in single-minded pursuit, so focused on his goal that he didn't notice the loose gravel littering the path.

     This time, Thella wouldn't leave the trap to chance. As the man reached the killing zone, she ran out to where a manual trigger rope laid. What started as a few stones soon had the entire cliff side sliding down upon him, and Thella surely thought she was going to see him die. But to her astonishment, just when it looked like the man was going to be swept over the side, he began dodging boulder after boulder. Through the dust kicked up, she even thought she saw him leaping along the tops of some of the rocks, keeping himself above the slide. Then just as quickly, the man was through.

     Thella shook off her surprise and retreated up the path toward the dubious safety of her hideout and only means of escape. She entered the cavern, extinguishing the glows as she went deeper, and crouched down near the back, engulfed in darkness, but still able to see the entrance, and waited. All-too-soon, the man appeared, silhouetted against the daylight outside, and Thella held her breath, hoping beyond hope that he would ignore the darkened cavern.

     "Just to let you know, I eat _lots_ of carrots," the man growled, "so I can still see you behind that boulder. But even if I couldn't, I could always track you by _scent_!"

     Thella held still, ignoring the insult just in case he was bluffing. That notion was dispelled as he drew nearer, walking directly toward her position.

     "Who _are_ you? What do you want?" she wailed as the man inexorably drew nearer. " _Why won't you leave me alone?_ " she almost asked, but then noticed his left arm hanging limply by his side. "Why...why did you cripple your arm like that, back there?" she asked out of pure curiosity.

     "Well, I'm rather disappointed you forgot me," the man began. "What I want should be obvious, and as for the why, you remember what that gold dragon told you? It wouldn't be a very sporting way to fight you if I hadn't!"

     Suddenly realizing this was the very same man she had met on the road between Nabol and Ruatha, the very same person rumored to be the rider of a crazy gold--the very same gold that nearly killed her and then reached out to her mind to threaten her that it would one day hunt her down and kill her, Thella instantly whipped out one of her two remaining throwing blades and let it fly. If she could kill him, that gold would be driven _between_! And since she had nailed him once before, she could do it again.

     As before, the man twisted on the impact, but to her amazement, there was no knife handle sticking from his chest this time when he straightened back up. Instead, she saw that he had actually caught the blade in his right hand!

     "That's impossible!" she screamed. With the only source of light behind him, there's no way he should even have been able to have seen it coming!

     "Want to try that again?" Ryuu snarled at her. Stunned that he had intercepted her throw, she was unprepared to move when he flung the knife back. Fire bit into her leg and Thella cried out. She looked down to see where the edge had cut a thin, shallow slice in her inner thigh. It wasn't crippling, she realized with relief, but it was painful.

     At that moment another figure appeared at the cave entrance. Outnumbered and seemingly outmatched, Thella threw her final knife as a distraction and ran through a back passage, triggering a cave in as she went.

    

     _Ryuu hurts,_ Beauty whined. _You hurt him._

     Menolly regarded her queen for a few moments, then shook her head. There was no reasoning with them where Ryuu was concerned.

     Ryuu might not be as safe as her fire-lizards seemed to feel, but neither, apparently, did he mean her harm. He could've killed her, but instead chose to demonstrate that he _didn't_ want to.

     He was already well up the path from her, and as she watched, a single rock on the hillside above him started sliding down. It was joined by another, and then another as more and more rocks of progressively larger sizes began rolling down toward him. She covered her mouth with her hands, and felt the blood still on her lips, now Ryuu's blood on her hands. Despite her present antagonism toward the man, Menolly fearfully watched as dust and debris obscured Ryuu.

     _Not another death!_ she willed, but could only watch helplessly. Fearful of seeing him killed, Menolly stood and stared since at one point, just as it seemed he was going to be caught by the avalanche, it looked as though he was leaping from one bouncing boulder to the next, staying just one step from being swept over the side. And then Ryuu was through it.

     She knew she should take his advice and go home, but Jarod... Menolly was unable to continue the thought and fought back the tears that threatened to come. Ryuu was the key. Somehow everything that was happening pointed to him. So she gathered herself and followed, keeping an ever-watchful eye turned to the cliff side. She carefully picked her way across the area affected by the slide, carrying Jarod's heavy walking stick, all the while Beauty urging her to hurry. Menolly sensed through Beauty that Ryuu had the bad woman cornered, and moved more hurriedly.

     "Why did you cripple your arm like that?" Menolly heard a hoarse voice ask from inside the darkened Hold ruins. It was a question that Menolly might have asked as well, though his answer sounded more of bravado, "Well, I'm rather disappointed you forgot me. What I want should be obvious, and as for the why, you remember what that gold dragon told you? It wouldn't be a very sporting way to fight you if I hadn't!"

     She peered around a corner into what was apparently a deep cave just in time to see Thella flick an object toward Ryuu, which he, in a move too quick to follow, caught.

     "That's impossible!" Menolly heard the woman, Thella, scream.

     "Care to try that again?" Ryuu said, just as contemptuous as before, but to Menolly's estimation, it no longer sounded like a bluff.

     Thella cried out once more.

     Menolly stood up and edged closer, trying to see better. Again, Thella's hands flicked, only this time Menolly clearly saw the knife in flight, an unmoving object that steadily grew larger. Before her mind even recognized that the knife was aimed at her, Ryuu jumped in front of its path.

     "NO!" Menolly screamed as Ryuu's body twisted in midair from the force of the impact. Rather than catching the blade with his hand, as he had the first one, Ryuu caught this knife in his chest. The fire-lizards shrieked and darted forward after Thella, but Menolly ran toward Ryuu where he lay on the floor, uncertain what she could do for him besides comfort him in his last moments. "You saved my life," she said quietly, as if unable to comprehend the fact herself.

     "Yes," Ryuu confirmed, "yes I did, and I'm getting sick and tired of having to save it every time I see you!" he snarled. Ryuu rolled to his feet, grasped the knife still lodged in his chest, and yanked it out. "Some more of my blood for you!" He shook the blade at her, and tossed it away. "Well no more! I'm calling a dragon to take you back to where you belong, and out of my way!" Ryuu rushed down the darkened tunnel after the woman. Stunned, Menolly didn't try to follow this time.

     There was a momentary bright flash of light from down that tunnel and all her fire-lizards zipped out of there, terrified by an unspoken fear. Suddenly, all light from the outside was blocked.

     "Journeyman!" Sh'lack yelled for her.

 

     A dead fall blocked his pursuit, and he was furious. He triggered the Gateway and tried to get past the collapsed tunnel as a dragon, but the fall was too thick for him to dig through it.

     He furiously began pounding on the fall, his rage building with each blow as he slammed his taloned hand down upon the boulders. Vibrations from his blows began to loosen chips from the ceiling, but Ryuu never noticed as he continued to hammer away at the rock fall. Then, in his mind, Ryuu suddenly heard a song, but instead of it shocking him back to his senses, it only fueled his rage, and his eyes began to glow with a deep crimson light.

 

          _Somebody save me!_

          _Let your warm hands break right through (soon)_

          _And save me!_

          _I don't' care how you do it_

          _Just save me! (stay with me)_

          _I'll make this whole world shine for you_

          _Just stay! (stay with me), stay!_

          _Come on!_

          _I'm still waiting for you_

 

     The notes and words sent chills up and down his spine, raising the scales on all his limbs, and energy bolts danced over his skin in response. Enthralled by the emotions the song enhanced, the dragon focused his full wrath against the landslide and delivered one final impact into the rocks, sending not only kinetic force through the mass, but also powers pulled in by his will from whatever other dimensions that his Creators roamed. On the far side of the landslide, the rocks suddenly erupted into blazing plasma that blasted through the empty tunnels.

 

     _Hide in these tunnel-snake warrens all you want, Bitch!_ Ryuu screamed out telepathically. _You poke your face out just_ once _and I'll be there to bite it off!_

 

Fort Weyr:

     Lisa shuddered in terror at that scream that only she and the dragons heard.

     "He's really going to kill me!" she whispered to herself. "I've got to get away before he finds me!"

 

Healercraft Hall:

     _Ryuu!_ Sherri sent out. _What's happening? What's wrong?_

     _That bitch, Thella, got away again!_ Ryuu replied. _My transponder and communicator are blown. I need you to get word to the_ Panthro _for a retrieval, but don't call from the Weyr. Lisa's monitors will pick up the signal._

     _It's okay,_ Sherri responded. _I'm at the Harperhall. I'll give the ship a call. Where are you?_

     _An abandoned Hold in the hills east of Igen Hold, well past that wide river delta,_ Ryuu told her. _The_ Panthro's _sensors should pick me out from here._

     _I'm calling right now!_ Sherri finished.

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ :

     After the dragon materialized on the transporter platform, Ryuu stepped off, walking quickly for the exit. As usual, the _Panthro_ opened the doors in response to his approach. However, Ryuu was impatient, and reached out his wings to force the doors apart faster than what the ship was doing. The computer was surprised that the pneumatics were actually damaged by the force Ryuu used.

     "Now _that_ is one pissed off dragon!" the _Panthro_ observed.

 

     T'khill was meditating in his quarters, perched upon a post that was one horamter in diameter and six horamters tall. His knees were bent with his foot talons gripping the top, his hand talons in opposition to each other, and his wings and tail feathers locked in the pose to keep his center of gravity over the middle of the post. He executed perfect balance of body as well as mind, disciplining his breathing and heart rate, while keeping the post from tipping over.

     His meditation was interrupted when Stealth cried out. When he opened his eyes, he saw the bronze dragon's eyes were whirling yellow and white.

     "Stealth, what is the problem?" he asked.

     _Ryuu is angry!_ Stealth replied with a quiet voice so as not to attract the attention of the angry dragon he sensed.

 

     Ryuu made his way to the nearest Holodeck, fuming the entire trip. Once there, he used the tactile interface to order the _Panthro_ to throw up a psionic barrier about the Holodeck and programmed the chamber to provide him a fight with the largest dragon forms of all the crew.

 

     Wolf's study of their accumulated data on the Pernese dragons was interrupted when Mike suddenly rushed onto the Bridge.

     "Ryuu's gone insane!" Mike exclaimed. "He's in a Holodeck, taking us all on! _And winning!_ "

     "What?"

     To show him, Mike activated the monitor to show the Holodeck Ryuu was using. The view revealed the gold dragon ripping apart his opponents, three at a time as that was all that could get to him per turn, as their flights converged on him. Wolf could see that his own red dragon form was already among the casualties, as were T'khill and all the Skorr, as well as Sokon and Puma's Chinese dragon forms, and even Ryuu's own dragon form!

     "Jesus!" Wolf exclaimed. " _Panthro_! What's the settings for his opponents?"

     "Ryuu ordered up the entire crew at 150% of the maximum previously recorded fighting abilities and semi-random tactics," the computer responded.

     "Is Ryuu using music?" T'khill asked.

     "Negative," the Panthro replied. "However, Ryuu's simulation was directed to fight as though it had been listening to it. The real Ryuu killed it 1.4 kilohoronds into the simulation along with Sokon's Chinese form."

     "Good God!" Wolf whispered. "Mike, stay here! And say nothing to anyone!" Wolf ordered and rushed out the Bridge.

     "No argument from me," Mike gulped. Among the uncounted races, it was said of the Skorr, one of the finest warrior species the galaxy had ever produced, that they did not know the meaning of fear when it came to combat. But looking at what Ryuu was doing in there, Mike wondered if any of them would still be able to make such a claim if they were to see _this_.

 

     By the time Wolf reached the chamber being used, the fight simulation was over. When he entered, Ryuu, the real Ryuu, had finally been overwhelmed and forced to use the Gateway, having been brought down by the last four dragons: Sherri's gold, a black belonging to one of the Caitians, T'Rrll, and the Romulan's two purple dragons. Wolf was stunned by all the other dragons that had been ripped apart, and whatever rage which had seemingly possessed Ryuu did not appear to be over. The man stood there, surrounded by the simulated dragons that had backed away, still growling, his eyes still showing fury, his posture still braced for combat.

     "Ryuu!" Wolf cautiously ventured, but there was no response. He repeated the call several times before Ryuu actually glanced at him.

     "Ryuu! What's going on?" Wolf asked with a dry gulp. "What happened?"

     Ryuu then began striding toward him, and Wolf nervously braced for the advance. He had fought Ryuu several times in the past, under several states of emotion and situations, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but never with him at this level of evident rage. Wolf even sometimes welcomed the combat with Ryuu in the past. But this time, Wolf was under no desire to go through what he could see his own simulated red dragon form had experienced.

     "Ryuu! What caused this?" Wolf asked, hoping to calm his friend down before it came to the fight. Ryuu was almost within their mutual reach and Wolf still had no idea what would be the result when they met. Would Ryuu attack? Would he recognize his friend?

     "What started this?" Wolf desperately implored. Then the question actually seemed to have an effect on the man. Ryuu blinked and slowed his advance, finally stopping as he stepped a pace past Wolf with a puzzled expression on his face.

     "'What started this?'" Ryuu repeated the question. Wolf watched as Ryuu's expression became blank, signaling that Ryuu was about to experience a flashback. Then surprisingly, Ryuu suddenly turned and grabbed Wolf by the collar of his robes and drove him back against the arch to the chamber.

     "'What started this?' The _Beginning!_ " Ryuu said glaring straight into his eyes.

 

Early 1988, Eastern Kentucky:

     The sound of a woman screaming in terror woke him from a disturbing slumber. But the sight that greeted his eyes stopped him cold.

     His body, of what he could see of it in the black space he laid in, was glowing with a soft purple light and was being consumed by pale blue flame. Moreover, his body was no longer that of a human. The left leg he could see was long, almost canine the way it folded, and there was a thick saurian tail curled about him.

     Quickly, he raised his left hand to stare at it, and the blue flames danced in response to the sudden motion before settling back into the calm routine of burning. His other hand shot up to touch the flesh of its mate, and he felt the contact in both limbs, but no pain from the fire. And the talons that graced his powerful looking fingers gave him pause.

     The woman's screams caught his attention again, as much as he wanted to investigate the puzzle of his painlessly burning flesh, there was a more compelling urge to rush to the aid of the woman.

     He quickly found his way out of the cave by following the sound of the terrified female and into cold daylight at the bottom of a ravine. The sun was shining clear and bright, and shadows on the ground among the red, yellow, and green landscape poking out from between patches of white snow were sharp, but he had difficulty seeing how it should be. The sky was a gray, albeit a very light gray, but not the blue that it should be in the clear blinding radiance of the sun.

     The screams came again, this time above and behind him, over the cliff that he had just emerged from. The urgency of the woman's terror forced him up before he could rationally think about how impossible that climb should be. But he scaled it faster than he had emerged from the cavern.

     At the top of the ridge, he saw the source of the problem in the valley below. A semicircle of about a dozen bikers surrounded a naked woman who was being held by a biker gripping each limb while a fifth man had just finished removing his trousers before getting down to the business of the rape.

     Snarling, he was only vicariously aware of the tips of disappearing tusks that had stuck up in front of his nose, as he leapt off the ridge.

     Then he blinked in surprise at what he was doing, and only just realized he had wings! The discovery almost caused him to crash far short of his goal, and something in him asserted control again to land him where he intended.

     His sudden arrival startled all of the bikers, and before any of them could react, the disgust he felt at what they were doing was erupting out of his gullet. He opened his mouth and flame vomited out of his mouth as he swept his aim over the semicircle of men, leaving only the five that were holding the woman. At the same moment, he realized just how much larger he was compared to the other people. His hand swept out, catching the two nearest him, each of whom were holding the woman's arms, and the talons he sported tore long deep bloody gouges across their leather clad torsos. The two who held her legs apart and their semi-nude partner quickly backed away, and he spread his wings out to preclude their escape, taking a step forward.

     Unaware of what caused them to release her, the woman sprang to her hands and knees in order to escape her captors, only to freeze at the sight she must've seen.

     "H-h-hey, man," the rapist called out. "I-if y-y-you w-want the bitch that bad, go ahead, take her!"

     _You bunch of filth!_ he wanted to shout. _You can't find a hooker who's willing to take your money, so you grab the first person you see?_

     But his mouth couldn't make human speech, and his anger with them made the vile substance rise again in his throat. He launched another burst of the flaming substance, but rather than strike them directly, he walled them in with an arc of fire in front of them.

     Instinctively, they all jumped back, stepping into the wall of flame behind them. Instantly, they all reacted as their flesh caught fire, their panicked movements caused the substance to quickly spread the stuff about their confinement and over their own bodies.

     He paused and calmly observed their activity, noting that somehow, he was able to sense their fear, agony, and hopelessness at their unexpected fate. Something inside him wanted to capture that terror and torture, to experience it through their minds, even the gasping, struggling urge to live despite the pain before their minds finally expired.

     Then he looked down at the woman whose terror had pulled him out there.

     She had listened to the screams of the bikers as they burned alive, but she couldn't take her eyes off the creature that stood above her. Only when it deigned to regard her did she hide her eyes, hoping the monster would leave her and not rip her apart as it had done the two that had held her arms or set her aflame as it had done the others.

     He listened to her mind, and that something in him urged him to kill her as he had done the others, kill her in a slow, painful fashion so that it could feed on her terror, her pain, her death.

     _NO!_ he roared in his mind, and the woman cringed.

     He reached out to her, but when his hand touched her, she screamed.

 

     He watched Kelly Smith as she slumbered among his folded limbs, covered by part of his left wing. In the darkness, he could see that her body also glowed with a purple light and was enveloped by transparent blue flame.

     _Heat!_ he realized with a start. _I'm actually seeing heat as a_ color _!_

     As though reacting to his thoughts, the woman shifted in her sleep, and the contact she made against his tail irritated him. He fumed at the touch, even as he gently shifted his wing to provide her more protection from the cold. All of her clothing that the bikers had torn from her had been caught in his initial gout of flame. But once she recovered, he intended to let her know that touching him there was not going to be tolerated.

 

     After her faint, he had quickly taken stock of the fact that he was a dragon, complete with wings and four legs. And somehow, even though he couldn't see his face, when he had concentrated on the woman lying there in front of him, he got the distinct impression of what he looked like. His color seemed to match what he could see of himself: gold. And his head was now shaped vaguely like an alligator's, but with four long ivory tusks and blood-red triangular eyes.

     Puzzled by both his new form and the people who had waken him, he had walked around the arc of flame to check out a motorcycle that hadn't been caught by the fire, and discovered the trunks were filled with cash.

     _Either stolen or gathered from illegal activities,_ he had concluded. Then he had looked past the roaring fire to the woman's body lying there.

     _How did I know her name?_ he wondered at the time. He looked back at the money, and had realized that as a dragon, he wouldn't survive long without some help, and lots of money to stay hidden. And if he didn't act immediately, a prime opportunity to get both might be lost forever in the frigid air.

     After gathering the trunks of money, holding them with his wing claws, and laying the woman across his back, he had found a less taxing route back to the cave.

     And so he stayed there, keeping the woman warm, as _something_ told him when the authorities had finally arrived to investigate the fire. They never discovered his tracks, nor searched too far from the scene.

     While he had waited for the police to finish their business, he considered his own situation.

     _How did I become a dragon?_ he had wondered. _Was there a transference of our minds? Is there a dragon wandering about out there with_ my _body? And is my body dead after whatever caused us to switch? Or could I be a parasite entity that somehow took over the mind of this creature?_ He worried that if that were the case, how long would he remain in control, and what situations might result in the original owner's mind to reclaim its life?

     He recalled when he nearly crashed while making that leap to rescue the woman, some instinct had asserted itself to regain control of his flight. _What would then happen to_ me _when the dragon finally emerges to reassert control?_

 

     He relaxed now that he could no longer hear the thoughts of the police and investigators, but he remained where he lay, quietly examining his body. His hands seemed normal enough as he flexed his talon-tipped fingers, fascinated by the patterns of heat rising in the cool air. His toes, too, responded in the normal way, and using his right wing, he reached back to caress his leg. The contact also seemed normal for the rear limb, but it forced him to consider his wings.

     It felt strange to have essentially a second pair of arms, as well as the tail. By concentrating on them, he had been able to figure out how to move them, and the experience was like suddenly learning a completely new set of muscles he never had before.

     It was during his exploration of the new set of limbs, he inadvertently raised the wing he used to cover the woman. In response to the chilled air she reached out to hug his tail with her arms and legs, moaning out her discomfort.

     Her actions brought to his attention something else that was bothering him, and after concentrating on the woman, he thankfully discovered, even if this wasn't his real body, he was at least still male. Despite the obvious disadvantage he was going to face in a modern society where dragons did not exist, he considered the prehensile feature a plus. He quickly lost interest in his arousal by focusing on more urgent concerns.

     As he waited for the retraction to finish, he thought about what happened when the bikers caught themselves on fire. It puzzled him that he had been able to sense how they were in pain. Looking again at the sleeping figure he concentrated on "listening" to her.

     He got some idea that she and her fiancée had been accosted by the bike gang earlier that day. They killed him back where their car had been forced to stop and, after bringing her to a more secluded location, were about to rape her when the dragon showed up out of nowhere. And he also got some idea that some time had passed since his last memory onboard the _Daniels_. There had been a news report about a missing cruise liner, but nothing about the Navy ship.

     _Could I be a telepath?_ he finally asked himself. With that, Kelly slowly woke up, her motions again caused her hand and leg to caress his tail, and the contact again infuriated him. Then it puzzled him why this should be so. Normally, having such a pretty creature as this touching him on a part of his body that was quickly showing its value for its erogenous zones shouldn't have irritated him, but her contact was definitely pissing him off.

     "Wh-what's happened?" she muttered in confusion. Hands explored her surroundings and touched his left arm, side, leg, wing, and tail again. With that caress the final straw, he quickly lifted his wing from her, shocking her with the freezing air.

     Before the stunned woman could react, he shot out a short gout of flame against the far wall to illuminate the cavern, and Kelly gasped at the sight of herself sitting among the dragon's limbs.

     _I want you . . . To. Stop. Touching. . . . MY! TAIL!!_ he hissed. Instantly, Kelly looked down at her hand and quickly removed it and her legs from the contact. Then when she looked back at him, she peed herself, making him leap up and throw her to the ground.

     "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!" she screamed in terror. "I-I-I DIDN'T MEAN TO!" As she shivered from both cold and fright, he glared down upon her, stepping away to turn and face her. Then his irritation softened.

     _Can you hear me?_ he gently asked. _Can you understand me?_ She suddenly looked up at him. _Can you...?_ he began to ask again when he saw her eyes grow wide and she finished emptying out her bladder.

     _I suppose that should've been expected,_ he sighed. _Listen,_ he told her, _I'm not going to harm you._

     "W-wh-what d-d-do y-y-you w-w-w...?" she stammered as she shivered.

     _You're cold,_ he said, gently reaching his wing out to envelope her, and using a hand to take her arm to guide her to stand and walk away from the puddle. _I only want to help. And I'm afraid I'm needing your help._

     "H-hel-help you?" she exclaimed in shock. "How c-c-can I help you?"

     _I'm--not--where I belong,_ he finally said, reluctant to lie, but unwilling to tell her the truth. _My home--has become a hostile world--and I--I'm lost. I'm stuck--on your planet--and I need your help in order to survive here. Please! Help me!_

     "I--I d-don't know how," Kelly whispered. He could tell she was worried that the monster would kill her if she refused. He tried a different tactic.

     _Those men killed your--mate,_ he stated, reminding her of her situation. _He was your_ chosen _mate, and they were going to force you to mate with them instead, against your wishes._ He was able to visibly see the flare of heat her body generated even as he sensed her anger and regret.

     _As you can tell, I'm a telepath,_ he continued. _While you slept, I listened to your mind. From what I could understand, those men were criminals in your society. They stole--or improperly acquired--tokens for exchange,_ he turned to open a sidesaddle trunk full of money, letting her see it.

     _Now I don't know if you want to help me--and if you don't, I won't force you or harm you for refusing,_ he told her, subtly tightening his wing about her shivering frame. _But if you don't help me, I might find it very difficult to locate someone who will. In the meantime, you would be left alone, without protection, without friends, at risk for another potential group of criminals._

     _On the other hand, I can help protect you, and you can shelter me, and with--these tokens of exchange--you would have the means to do so,_ he finished. She was seriously considering it, but then shook her head.

     "It's--it's impossible!" she sighed. "The money would run out too fast--"

     _Not if I hunt down more criminals like the ones that hurt you and your chosen mate,_ he quickly told her, pouncing on her feelings. _I can prevent others from suffering pain as you did._

     "As a--vigilante?" she asked, looking up in alarm.

     _Is that wrong?_ he asked her.

     "Yes--yes it is," she sighed.

     _But is it_ just _?_ he pressed. She had no answer. He waited for her to think about it, but then his stomach interrupted with an audible growl, startling her.

     _I--I'm sorry,_ he laughed. _I guess I flamed too much. I'll go get something to eat. I know it's cold,_ he added when she looked up in shock. _Stay by the fire, but don't touch it! I apologize for the stench._

     Stepping outside into the night, he got an idea.

     "What was that horrible noise?" she asked when he returned a short time later, the fright she was feeling made her voice rise.

     _Just some trees,_ he told her as he drug in the young maples he had uprooted. After breaking apart the tree limbs, he soon had three large piles of kindling. Taking a branch, he let the dragon flame ignite the wood and there was soon two cozy campfires burning far enough apart for Kelly to stand between them but close enough to warm her without getting scorched. The third pile of wood was for refueling the fires.

     _I should be back before you run out of fuel,_ he told her. As a precaution for what he intended, he took a couple of packs of bundled money from the trunk with him.

 

     He soon located a farmhouse several miles away. The animals were locked inside the barn and his mental probing determined the family had just gone to bed.

     Quietly landing, he silently approached the barn and slipped in without disturbing the cattle. His presence did cause them unease, but he learned that he could sooth them back into a quiet stupor so that he could make a selection of which to eat.

     Coaxing a calf from its mother, he quickly dispatched it and settled down to eat without alarming the rest of the herd. When he was done with his fill, he left the money by the remains of the animal, leaving the barn as quietly as he had come.

     Outside, he spied some blankets still drying on the clothesline, and he swiped two to take back with him.

 

     As he had promised, he was back before she had run out of kindling, and the blankets were a lifesaver. When she asked about where he had gone and what he had done, he told her the truth and that he had made certain that no one had seen him.

     _I know you see me as some sort of monster,_ he began after several minutes had passed with nothing said by either of them, _but doesn't it count for something that I'm a monster who_ cares _? Who wants to help?_

     "Yes," she finally whispered. With all that he did for her and despite it warring with her conscience, she finally decided to help him. She didn't want any other woman to go through what she had.

     _Thank you,_ he said to her.

     In response to her decision, Trevar felt he needed to take an impulsive act of his own. As he was sitting there like a tremendously huge cat with his tail curled around his hands during their conversation, he motioned for her to approach him. When Kelly was within reach, he used his hands to pick up his tail and held it out to her. Surprised, she stepped back a pace.

     "What's this?" she asked, startled.

     _Since we will be working together, sometimes in close proximity, I think it's only fair and safe that I formally give you permission to touch my tail,_ he told her.

     "I--I don't understand," she said.

     _It's--difficult--to explain,_ he slowly told her, not fully understanding the need for this, either. _Dragons--we don't like someone touching our tails uninvited. But because we will be working closely together, by giving you permission now, I--won't--feel--the urge to kill you if you should touch my tail._ There, he said it in the most delicate way he could think of. Naturally, she reacted with the expected shock and took another step back and looked ready to bolt.

     _I'm not trying to alarm you,_ he quickly told her. _This way, we both are protected. I need you alive, and you won't always be able to keep track of my tail and external threats at the same time. This way, we both get what we need without any risk. A dragon's word is his bond._

     "What is it you need me to do?" she fearfully asked.

     _Just--accept my tail when I hand it to you and understand that this permission lasts as long as I feel it's necessary. Should there come a day when I rescind this permission, I'll give you clear and fair warning._

     Cautiously, she approached him and took the member into her hands. He released his grip and Kelly was stunned that she didn't feel the weight of the dragon's tail as she held it, and it only moved as she shifted her grip.

     "Wow!" she exclaimed, realizing the dragon must be consciously holding its tail aloft in her hands.

     Trevar also felt relief now that the compulsion to kill her for having touched him while she slept had now completely vanished.

     "Wh-what should I call you?" she asked as she gently lowered his tail back to the cave floor. She knew that if she had simply stepped away, the dragon was fully capable of holding its tail aloft, but that might be considered rude and this gesture seemed much more polite. Evidently, the dragon agreed.

     _You can call me 'Dragon',_ he replied. The man I was might as well be dead, he thought to himself.

     "That doesn't sound very--Kosher of me," she complained. "Don't you have a name?"

     _I do, but it would probably not mean anything to you,_ he said with a grin. _Besides, how many other dragons do you know?_

     "None!" she instantly replied, then added, "But before today, I didn't know about you, either. What if you're _not_ the only dragon on this planet?"

     _Good point,_ he considered with some sobriety. Then he grinned. _However, let's just flame that bridge when we cross it, shall we?_

     "Okay!" she laughed. "If you insist."

 

Onboard the _Panthro_ , Present Pass, 14.5.18:

     "I always wondered how you two had met," Wolf finally said after they both recovered from the flashback. "So what happened here?"

     Ryuu was silent a long time and Wolf knew enough to be patient with him.

     "Of all the centuries of experiences we endured," Ryuu finally began, looking up into the simulated sky as if in wonder, "we have seen wonders and horrors, nobility and villainy, justice and injustice, life and death, and on such a scale that no human was ever meant to perceive. Yet, how can anything, human or otherwise, experience all that and not be touched by it? To not be altered in some fashion? Not feel its effects?"

     "We have been, my old friend," Wolf tried to emphasize with whatever Ryuu was feeling. But Ryuu slowly shook his head.

     "No," he flatly replied. "We haven't."

     "How can you say that?" Wolf countered, surprised by that statement. Ryuu suddenly glared at him.

     "We weren't meant to," Ryuu said. Puzzled, Wolf had no response.

     "Look at the list of music in the que," Ryuu finally told him. Confused, Wolf turned to examine the data from the arch display.

     Duele el amor by Aleks Syntek and Ana Torroja, music from the motion pictures, Gladiator and Batman Begins, by Hans Zimmer, Trail of Tears by Clannad, the music from all three Tubular Bells albums by Mike Oldfield, Optimystic, Nightbird, On Sacred Ground, Midnight Hymn, Highland, Jivaeri all by Yanni, The Hunt by Cusco, Out/In by Remy Zero, Code/Anticode by Sean Malone, Manhattan Project, Mystic Rhythms, and High Water all by Rush, and Fragrance of the Nature by Kitaro were all playing simultaneously inside the mainframe.

     Wolf puzzled at this for a minute before turning back to Ryuu.

     "I don't understand," he said.

     "Have you ever seen me lose in combat when I'm fighting to music?" Ryuu asked with a haunted look. Wolf knew that these songs were some of Ryuu's favorites. And except for a few which could only remotely present a martial rhythm, he knew that whatever Ryuu tapped into when he utilized this material, it always seemed to be just what he needed to win, be the situation a ship-to-ship engagement or face-to-face fight, in whatever form he fought. Wolf could never figure out how Ryuu did it, but he always could.

     "Never," Wolf replied. He recalled that _Panthro_ stated that Ryuu's simulation was listening to music before he came down there. But for all these songs to be playing simultaneously, it greatly puzzled him. He turned back to Ryuu to ask the question.

     "These are not _your_ simulations," Ryuu told him before Wolf could inquire, gesturing to the chamber full of dead dragons. " _They're mine._ "

     "Yours?" Wolf exclaimed in astonishment.

     "All of them," Ryuu said.

     "I don't understand," Wolf finally said. "Why use _our_ dragon bodies?"

     "To provide additional advantage for them," Ryuu replied. Wolf stared at him as if his friend had lost his mind.

     "The simulations were all of me," Ryuu explained. "They were fighting at 150% of my capabilities that I exhibited when running these songs. _Panthro_ randomly selected which dragon would get which song, and he made the selection based on my most effective encounters."

     "I still don't understand why?" Wolf finally said.

     "Have you ever wondered why it was that I could win so, even when listening to the most relaxing, beautiful tunes?" Ryuu asked.

     "All the time," Wolf complained.

     "It's because the music sets me free of the Leash," Ryuu told him. "It sets me free so that I can fight from my heart, my emotions, and my instincts, letting me _feel_ the fight, the anger, the loss, the urgency to help my friends. And so I'm free of the Leash, if only for a short time."

     "How does this relate to what just happened here?" Wolf asked when Ryuu stood silent and impassive, looking out over the carnage.

     "What _I_ just did here," Ryuu whispered, his face paling in evident terror, "was done by that-- _thing_ \--that _holds_ the Leash!"

     "My God!" Wolf whispered in dread. Was his friend _that_ insane?

     "It reared its ugly head today," Ryuu continued, "to let me know that no matter how skilled I may be--no matter how clever I may get--no matter how strong I might become--no matter what I play to release my heart into the problem-- _IT_ will never let me _stay_ free! And _IT_ will always be stronger than me!"

     "Ryuu," Wolf cautiously ventured. "Is this why Lisa's running from us?"

     "No," Ryuu quickly replied. "She has no idea about this."

     "Then what--?" Wolf began.

     "It's within us _ALL_!" Ryuu interrupted. "Within you. Within Lisa. Within everyone of our crew. You _have_ to realize this!"

     "Ryuu," Wolf started. "I've known you longer than perhaps any other being in the universe! I've known you before _The DRAGONS_ took us and altered us. I've known you before you met Sherri, even! How can you say that we've not been changed? This _IS_ change!"

     "You still don't get it," Ryuu sighed. "When _THEY_ took us and augmented us, _THEY_ put _THAT_ into us! We are _ALL_ on the Leash! You just don't realize it.

     "I've always been testing the limits!" Ryuu exclaimed. "I've sought the answers! Sought the reasons for what happened to us! And every time, _IT_ has kept me--kept us all-- _on the Leash!_ "

     "And what is _IT_?" Wolf challenged.

     "Have you ever counted the number of forms that we can assume?" Ryuu asked.

     "Over four thousand," Wolf answered. "And with the life forms that Lisa has probably learned, maybe a dozen more than the last count."

     "It's no coincidence that The _DRAGONS_ hold the number sixty-four in such high regard," Ryuu said. "I've got a bad feeling: Lisa's not the only one on this planet!"

     " _WHAT?_ " Wolf exclaimed, stunned by that.

     "Look at us!" Ryuu told him. "Eight species, each species represented by eight individuals, four males and four females-- _except for us!_ "

     "That would mean--there's another male!" Wolf exclaimed.

     "Moreover, with our dragon forms numbering three," Ryuu began, and Wolf realized where that was going.

     "There's at least a _fourth_ dragon form that we can assume!" Wolf exclaimed. He looked at Ryuu. "What is it?"

     "I've no idea," Ryuu replied.

     "We've got to find out who that last person is," Wolf said. "We can only hope he's on this planet. I just hope _he's_ not the thing Lisa's running from!"

     But Ryuu kept silent, letting Wolf make the wrong assumption about that. Explaining the truth would only take too much time and he had wasted far too much already while the rage kept him busy. He needed to return and right away.

 

Harpercraft Hall:

     Menolly didn't think about asking the dragonrider to time it back to the crafthall until after they were already descending.

     "I'm sorry, Journeyman," Sh'lack laughed at her suggestion. "But we've been searching for you for hours since last night! I can't very well undo our search!"

     "What an _IDIOT_!" she suddenly screamed, making the rider turn and stare at her. "Not you! _ME_! We _have_ to go back! Please! We can still save a man's life!"

     "What are you talking about?" Sh'lack asked as his brown settled. Menolly saw Sebell rushing up and she begged the rider to reconsider.

     "There was another journeyman harper!" she quickly told him. "He fell over the cliff trying to save my life, but I didn't see what happened to him! I was blinded by sand in my eyes! _You have to go back to this morning and save him!_ "

     Just then, Sebell reached them. "Menolly! Where have you been? Are you alright?" he asked.

     "No! No! No!" she cried, slamming her fist into her thigh. First her disobedience to the MasterHarper, her betrayal to Jarod and getting him killed, her ineffectiveness regarding Ryuu and Thella, and at the one moment where she could at least undo the worst mistake of all the ones she did tonight, she sunk that, too!

     "Poor thing's in a state!" Sh'lack said as he and Sebell helped her down. "She's wanting me to _time_ it to save someone's life!"

     "Menolly! What happened?" Sebell asked in horror.

     "I killed him! I killed him! I kill--!" she cried collapsing into his arms. Great sobs were wracking her body. "I ki--! I k--! I k--!"

 


	31. Part 31

**Part 31:**

 

December 1983, Narrows, Virginia:

     Lisa answered the knock at the door and was surprised to see Allec Trevar standing there.

     "Hi," he said, smiling. The young man quickly presented her with a beautiful cat-sized plush green dragon, one that had caught her fancy during a recent science-fiction convention. Lisa was stunned. She had no idea that he had any sort of feelings for her.

     "I know this is unexpected," Allec said. "But I knew that you wanted her, and I was just passing by...." She almost burst out laughing. _His idea of "just passing by" was over 100 miles south of his home in Charleston?_ she thought. _What was he doing here?_

     "Ah-h-h, come on in," she stammered. She didn't want to be rude, but she didn't know how to tell him about the problem this would cause. Fortunately, her parents weren't at home, or this would've been very awkward.

     "So, what do you think?" he asked, handing the toy to her. Still unprepared for this, she gingerly took it.

     "Oh, it's so adorable!" she exclaimed. And she so wanted it! She couldn't afford it last week, and neither could her new boyfriend. And here it was! Ah, but there was the problem....

     "Allec," she began.

     "So, what are you going to name her?" Allec spoke up, uncharacteristically fast for him.

     "Alfonzo," she whispered without thinking. She instantly wished she had kicked herself! _What are you_ doing _?_ she screamed at herself. _You were_ supposed _to put a stop to this!_

     " _Alfonzo?_ " Allec exclaimed surprised. He blinked several times, trying to assimilate that. "Oooo-kay," he finally said with a momentary shudder.

     "Allec, there's a problem," Lisa spat out.

     "What's wrong?" he asked with genuine concern.

     "I--I have a boyfriend," she quickly said, hoping this wouldn't get any more awkward than it already was.

     "Oh!" Allec quietly said. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know." His quiet acceptance and concern in his voice greatly relieved her. "Well--I guess I should go then." He turned toward the door.

     "Oh, but what about this...?" Lisa asked, holding out the dragon. He stopped and turned back to her, warmly smiling at her.

     "It's okay," he gently said, patting her hand. "It's a gift to the new couple."

     " _What?_ " she exclaimed. "This is too much!"

     "It's alright," Allec nodded. "It's a gift. So who's the lucky guy, or do I know him?"

     "You know him," Lisa giggled. "It's Ben. Ben Jordan."

     Allec's face fell, instantly paling, and he shut his eyes as if in pain. The sight of this alarmed Lisa. This was the reaction she had expected from telling him that she was already steady with someone! She had a hard time understanding that Allec would've taken the news so well, but for him to react to the news that it was their mutual friend--it worried her that this was something else.

     "Allec? What's wrong?"

     "Nothing!" His voice was raspy, as if he was having trouble breathing.

     "What is it?" she demanded.

     "I've said too much already!" Allec blurted out before rushing for the door.

     "Allec!" she cried out. When she got to the door, he was already to his car. She couldn't believe he had moved so fast. The car was in motion to pull out of her driveway even before the engine had finished turning over, and he was gone into the night.

     "What happened?" she wondered.

 

Fort Weyr, Present Pass, 14.5.18:

     It was just before midnight when she woke with a start sprawled across her bed. Getting up, she realized she had let herself slumber without getting out of today's work clothes, but what disturbed her was that vivid dream. She couldn't shake the images or words from her mind, nor could she exhibit any of the control over the dream's content that she had learned over the centuries.

     Fortunately, it wasn't at all like the horrific memory of the attack on her and Syvok that had spontaneously erupted some fourteen months ago, triggered by the arrival of those aliens chasing her. _That_ vivid memory, in turn, had led to a very distorted and horrifying nightmare of that same event soon after she had Impressed Voith.

     _Voith!_ she remembered. Concern for her dragon jolted her out of bed and to the gold queen's side. But the still growing gold hulk was peaceably snoozing, undisturbed by her mistress's inner turmoil.

     Automatically, she reached out to brush her fingers along Voith's eye ridges, instantly setting the sleeping dragon to a very happy rumbling. She smiled, knowing the dragon's dreams were now much better than her own had been.

     As she continued her caressing, she began to puzzle about that dream. It was almost like a movie--no--more like a recording--but from her vantage point. Moreover, she somehow had the strangest feeling that it was completely and perfectly accurate. Just like others that her companions in the past had confirmed were real memories.

     "And why did I have such a dream?" she softly asked. She considered seeking out Zelda to ask the female tunnel-snake if it could recall anything of the incident that might give a clue as to why she was having such nightmares, anything they could have missed when they had discussed it last Turn, but she was very tired. She was supposed to be up bright and early tomorrow. Still, the purpose of the memory nagged at her.

     Why did she have it? she wondered.

 

March 1984, Beckley, West Virginia:

     The first meeting of the book club for the new year saw everyone there. Jerry Conners, their club president, had set the date so that it was assured that no more snow would hamper travel. But Ben had his truck that could handle the worst snowstorms, and he had been down several times from Charleston. Lisa bit her lip when she saw Allec arrive. She had a very unpleasant duty to perform.  Allec glanced at her and Ben sitting together and his despondent face couldn't hide what he felt. Lisa felt sorry for the young man, and she felt Ben seething as he sat beside her.

     When he had visited her, he saw the small green dragon and demanded to know how she got it. That's when she got an inkling of whatever it was that had bothered Allec so. She had guessed that they weren't as good friends with each other as they had let on.  Allec chose a seat well away from them and was turned to minimize eye contact, but she could tell his heart wasn't in the meeting.

     The meeting ended with a polite round of applause and much scraping of chairs across the floor as the audience stood to socialize with friends, which most considered the real purpose of the meeting. Lisa remained seated until Ben pushed the shopping bag into her hands and gave her a meaningful look before departing from view. Even as Lisa peered inside the bag to assure herself of the contents, she realized she was moving across the room toward Allec.

     "Allec," Lisa quietly spoke to him. She saw him stiffen at the sound of her voice, and when he looked up at her, Lisa was stunned to notice the sadness in his eyes. "I can't keep this," she said.

     Allec received the bag with a kind of wariness and glanced inside as if to confirm his suspicion. He reached into the bag and a green dragon poked its head above the side. "I said it's a gift."

     "Ben doesn't want me to have it." The statement made Lisa feel ill.

     "It's not for him to decide what's yours, now is it?" he said. Some little hardness rising in his voice frightened her. "Why are you letting him tell you what to do you?"

     "Please don't," she pleaded for him to stop. "Allec. When did you--?"

     "Last year, from the moment I saw you," he whispered. "I just didn't have the nerve to tell you before." Lisa bit her lip and began to turn away.

     "I'm sorry," Lisa apologized.

     "Yeah, me too." Allec looked around the room and shook his head. "I've got to get out of here," he said hurriedly and put action to his words. Lisa tried to follow, but Allec was already outside before she even got halfway across the room. By the time she got to the door, Allec was already to his car, and he wasn't alone. Ben was waiting for him.

     "I don't want you coming anywhere near her!" Lisa overheard Ben saying.

     "Fine!" Allec responded. There was a definite edge to his voice. "But the first time I hear that you hurt her will be the last!"

     "I'm warning you, Allec!" Fearful, she peeked around the edge of the doorway. Ben towered over Allec by at least a head, but Allec didn't look intimidated. He stood right beneath Ben's chin, his face snarling and his hands held at his side in a gnarled claw-like pose.

     "You think I'm scared of you?" Allec hissed. "Think again! _I'm_ warning _you!_ Hurt her like you did Peg, and you'll answer to _me_!"

     _Peg?_ Lisa gasped. _Ben's former girlfriend?_ She was here at the meeting, but they didn't seem to have any animosity toward each other. In fact, Ben had provided Peg her ride down here!

     "You say one word to her about that--!" Ben held a raised a finger in warning.

     "You lay one hand on me, you better make sure you kill me!" Allec said through clenched teeth. "Because you _won't_ get a second chance! And it will show Lisa just what kind of a jerk you really are!"

     Lisa felt someone come up behind her and turned to see Jerry watching the scene over her shoulder.

     Their voices had been getting progressively louder: "Get the fuck out of here and don't come back!" "Back--Off--Now!" There was a palpable tension just looking for a flame. Jerry pulled Lisa away from the door and suddenly brushed past her.

     "Hey! Either of you gents got a light?" Jerry asked, holding out a cigarette. Leave it to Jerry to defuse the situation. "What are you doing out in this cold? The party's inside!" he said with a laugh. "Still plenty of hors d'oeuvres on the table. We paid for them, might as well enjoy them."

     "Allec said he needed to leave. I was just seeing him to his car," Ben answered innocently, "don't forget your bag, Allec." Allec said nothing, accepting the shopping bag and entering his car without ever shifting his eyes from Ben. "Have a safe drive home," Ben called as Allec drove away.

     His duplicity sickened her. "And to think I lost my virginity to that man," Lisa had whispered very quietly, retreating to hide in the ladies restroom, only to rush headlong into Peggy.

     "Lisa! What's wrong?" Peg exclaimed, seeing the expression on her face. Lisa nearly burst out in tears. After seeing them nearly go to blows, she was determined to find out the reason, and to do that, she intended to speak with Peg, but it was too soon!

     "Lisa!" Peg forcefully said, trying to break through her hysteria. "What happened?"

     "Ben and Allec almost got into a fight!" Lisa whispered. Peggy was astonished.

     "Whatever for?" she asked.

     "Over me!" Lisa replied. Peg's face showed her outrage and she was about to go out looking for them. "No!" Lisa said, trying to hold her back. "They don't know I overheard them!"

     "Well this is just so damned stupid of them both--" Peg began, but stopped when she saw how much Lisa was suddenly shaking. "Hey! Hey! Everything will be alright, just as soon as I knock some sense into those two!"

     "Peg," Lisa suddenly asked in a low voice, "what caused you and Ben to break up?" Peg instantly froze, the shock on her face confirmed to Lisa that there was a lot more to the story than what she had overheard. And it was Peg who suddenly needed to sit down.

     Then Lisa learned that their relationship had broken up because he had cheated on her several times.

     "It's not that he really means to be bad, but he's such a lech," Peg confessed. "He's always looking for a fresh piece of ass! I finally got tired of it. Ben's problem is he can't let go of something that he's got his hooks into." She admitted they had had arguments plenty, but it was the physical abuse that concerned Lisa the most. She and Peg were both the same height, and several inches shorter than Allec even, but Peg was at least as heavy as Ben, and said she was at least able to give as well as she got. Lisa realized that her near-ideal physique would be no match for the man if he ever hit her!

     No wonder that Allec had been scared for her! He must have been worried that saying anything to her would only make himself look like a petty, lovesick kid, who would say anything to try to break up a blooming relationship, and quite possibly drive her to blindly trust Ben as a result.

     Anyhow, it was too late, she realized. It didn't matter if she broke up with Ben now or not. He had already "scored" with her--last September! If only Allec had let her know how he felt when they first met, it might have turned out differently!

     When Ben saw her leave the restroom, she made it very clear that she would be going home alone after the meeting, and she felt his coldness, too, as if he was aware that she had witnessed some of what happened. Ben was pissed, but he wisely didn't make a scene in front of anyone else. Then Lisa worried that he would assume that it had been Allec who had spilled the truth to her.

 

Fort Weyr, Present Pass, 14.5.19:

     Voith rumbled, but not in pleasure, shocking Lisa from the trance.

     "Sorry, dear heart," she said, continuing to caress the dragon's eye ridge. Lisa began wiping away tears that had poured down her cheeks without resistance. "I disturbed your sleep with those memories, although I'm not really sure why I'm having them."

     She remembered it had been a few months after that argument in Beckley that Allec had contacted Jerry to pass the word to the rest of the group: that he had joined the Navy and wouldn't be returning. She never saw him again until the night of the attack that killed Syvok. _But why am I having such dreams?_ she wondered.

     Then she recalled the conversations earlier in the day with the other weyrlings and with J'gun. Some of them had been discussing past infatuations and the heartbreaks that resulted when things hadn't worked out.

     She had stayed out of the discussion, having far too many encounters in her past. But since so many of them were first-time events, the others' talking evidently made her recall that turbulent period in her life so long ago. _A life, by all rights, that should be dust on a planet hundreds of light years distant and millennia in the past._

     Voith reacted to Lisa's stray thought by jerking her head away from her touch. Miraculously, she stayed asleep, but Lisa reacted as if the dragon had wakened.

     "Oh, Voith!" she cried, leaping up to hug her dragon's golden neck. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Yes, it's been a very long life. _But it did eventually bring me to you!_ As much horror as I suffered to get here, I'm so glad I Impressed you! _I'm happy I was here to be selected as your rider!_ " At the dragon's contented sigh, Lisa stepped around Voith's massive head and climbed in among her folded limbs.

     "But I'm just so very afraid, my dear Voith," she continued to speak softly to her sleeping queen. "I'm just so very afraid of what danger I bring to risk your hide! I have to take you _between_! I have to keep those bastards from tracking us! I have to hide among people who can't possibly understand me, to pretend to be one of them, and all the while, I'm helpless to protect you! Just as I'm helpless to protect myself!" She had to stop as she quietly cried into Voith's neck. The dragon, still sleeping, whined at her rider's distress, and hugged her by bringing her wing to cover Lisa and pressed her head and neck to tighten around her.

     "I'm so helpless! We're so helpless! They chase us! They hunt us! _They want to kill us!_ " she sobbed when she could speak again. " _AND I DON'T KNOW_ WHY _!_ "

 

     "Lisa?" _Go away! Can't you let a person sleep?_

     "Lisa." _I said go away!_ Lisa tried to hold onto the dreams that floated serenely after those disturbing memories. She wanted those memories to fade, but try as she might, they simply wouldn't enter her dreams where she could freely distort and change them with her will.

     "Lisa! It's time for lessons!" The voice sounded mad now. "Wake up, girl!"

     She woke up with a start to discover she had fallen asleep in Voith's coiled form. K'nebel was standing over her, looking very displeased. "You were supposed to be in your new leathers and have Voith ready to fly!" K'nebel admonished her.

     "S--sorry, Weyrlingmaster," she stammered out, quickly taking stock of her condition. She was still wearing the same outfit she'd worn the previous day, having fallen asleep fully clothed. Her joints felt stiff from her unusual bedding in Voith's limbs, her eyes felt gritty and her throat felt parched.

     "Are you okay?" K'nebel suddenly asked. Startled, she looked at him and saw concern etched upon his face. Lisa remembered crying into her dragon's neck long into the night. She didn't know when she must've stopped crying, or know when sleep must've crept up and claimed her. She could only imagine how she looked this morning.

     "Y-y-yes," she said as she self-consciously rubbed the gritty feeling of dried tears out of her eyes, and straightened up from Voith's now waking form. "I--I--uh," she searched for an explanation about her state that would sound reasonable to him, but she couldn't think of any. "I was just a little nervous last night," she squeaked out.

     "Well, it _is_ going to be your first time _between_ on your own dragon," K'nebel chuckled. Surprised, Lisa stared up at him. "That's a huge responsibility to not only you and your dragon, but to the Weyr that you can't afford to misdirect your queen."

     _He actually thinks--_ she began the thought, but quickly put an end to it. _So let him!_ she instantly concluded. Voith snorted her opinion and Lisa gave the dragon's snout a quick rubbing to silence her.

     "But we've trained you kids how to visualize the coordinates," K'nebel continued, ignorant of the byplay. "However, for this first jump, Voith will be getting the coordinates from Firth."

     "Yes, I understand," Lisa quickly responded. Voith snorted again. K'nebel looked as though he was going to add something else, but turned to leave instead.

     "You don't have time for breakfast, just get yourself and Voith ready and meet us at the lake in fifteen minutes." With that, K'nebel left her. Lisa let out a huge sigh of relief and began her morning routine.

     Are _you scared?_ Voith asked.

     "There's no shame in being afraid, dear heart," Lisa answered from the bathing chamber. "It keeps the senses alert. We have more reason to be afraid of Ryuu and the others."

     _But you're not afraid of going_ between _?_

     Lisa lowered herself into the tepid water in the pool and grimaced as she thought about the question. It was very unnerving to her to have her ability to _Change_ disrupted for however brief a time, and to see the creatures residing there. However, it was the monsters in the shadows of the Weyr she feared most, far more than she feared the ones lurking in that dark, airless, cold void....

     "No, I'm not so much afraid of going _between_ as I am of what's waiting for me here. At least what is in _between_ stays there," she muttered.

     Nothing _is_ between _,_ Voith instantly said.

     "Of course, my sweet," she said smiling.

     Yesterday, she had sensed Ryuu _Changing_ while she was eating breakfast, then once more during morning lessons. She felt him _Changing_ again just before he broadcasted his threat to her, which was heard by all the dragons and disrupted lunch. She almost bolted out of the Weyr that instant, and it had taken all her strength not to do so. Somehow, she held herself steady, looking about for the danger, just as the Weyrfolk were puzzled by the dragons' alarm. Then she felt him _Change_ one final time in the late afternoon while tending to Voith.

     And while there was a distant, indistinct flavor passed along those jolts, she knew it was his fury. Every time she'd felt the _Change_ , Lisa had to reexamine her surroundings for anything the least bit out of place before she allowed herself to relax even slightly.

     She was exhausted by her fear. In addition to keeping herself from running that day, it had been such an effort to not even show that she knew the cause of the dragons' unease. For her to do so would only have pointed Ryuu and his unknown accomplices to look directly toward her. And for her to run, she would have to leave Voith behind, to be held hostage by those horrible monsters pursuing her. _SHE COULD_ NEVER _DO THAT!_ After today, Lisa considered as she toweled off, she wouldn't ever have to make that choice.

     She was also exhausted by those vivid memories that she had last night. Their message seemed to serve as a warning that she was neglecting something important in her rush to escape Ryuu, but she couldn't figure out the puzzle. Voith's snort snapped her out of her thoughts.

     "Are you ready to learn how to fly _between_?"

     Voith snorted again, this time with greater impatience.

    

Harpercraft Hall:

     Sebell noiselessly fingered the gitar strings as he kept vigil over Menolly's fellis-induced sleep. Master Oldive had cautioned him that she would sleep well into the afternoon, and could likely sleep through an orchestra before then, but it still hadn't felt right to Sebell to leave her alone, not that Menolly was ever alone with her entire fair of fire-lizards clustered around her. Golden Beauty was curled up on the pillows next to her head, while the others all nestled in folds in the blankets between her limbs. The girl looked so peaceful, Sebell thought, nothing at all like the frantic person Sh'lack had retrieved the previous night.

     A knock on the chamber door broke the silence, causing Sebell to jump and strum a dissonant chord on his gitar, further disrupting the stillness, which in turn caused the fire-lizards to glare at him. Menolly seemed not to notice at all. Sebell quickly rose from his chair, holding the gitar firmly by the neck, and opened the door before another knock could sound.

     "Ah, Sebell," Robinton greeted, "Silvina told me you might be here. Is there any news?"

     Sebell shook his head negatively and slipped into the hallway, closing the door behind him. "She's still sleeping off the effects of the fellis. She was in such a state last night, I'm worried how she'll be when she wakes up." Sebell fidgeted with the gitar in his hands, then looked up at Robinton's curious expression. "I'm not missing any lessons, Master," Sebell said almost defensively, "Domick cancelled the morning practice."

     "It's quite alright," Robinton assured him, "but I would like to find out what happened."

     "Didn't we get a clue when we had Kimi and Zair bespeak her fire-lizards?" Sebell nearly yelled, making Robinton blink in surprise. "I--I'm sorry, MasterHarper," he apologized.

     "Fire-lizard memories leave a lot to be desired, Sebell," Robinton said levelly. "And they do nothing to explain motives, and fire-lizards can't repeat conversations, and..." Robinton trailed off as he saw Sebell nodding agreement.

     "What's going to happen to her, Masterharper?"

     "She's had a quite a shock, certainly, but she'll recover..." he began, but Sebell interrupted him.

     "I meant, Masterharper, what are _you_ going to do to her?"

     Robinton gripped his journeyman's arm compassionately. "Igen Weyr riders are searching the Hold where Menolly was found, but until they report back or Menolly wakes up, it's much too soon to pass judgment." Robinton sighed. "I feel somewhat responsible, Sebell, always pushing her to consider the larger world." Robinton shook his head at some inner thought. "Let me know if she wakes up, or if you need relief."

    

_Between_ :

     _LISA! YOU MUSTN'T SEE_ THEM _!!_ Voith cried out in terror

     _Voith! Stay on course!_ Lisa sent to her dragon as they traversed the cold black void. _It's our only chance to live!_

     _LISA! PLEASE! DON'T LOOK AT_ THEM _!_

     _It's all right, Voith! Don't worry about them! Stay on course!_

    

Fort Weyr, Present Pass, 14.5.19:

     _What the hell just happened?_ Ryuu demanded through their telepathic link.

     _Ryuu!_ Wolf sent back. _Lisa's disappeared on her dragon!_

     _Ryuu! Wolf! Stop your panic!_ Sherri yelled. _Lisa's getting her training on how to teleport her dragon!_

     _That teleporting ability is the only thing that can kill us!_ Wolf yelled at her.

     _If it's a normal jump, then she should return in a couple of horonds,_ Ryuu replied, his return to calm evident over their link.

     _And if it's not a normal jump,_ Wolf fired back, _we're all dead!_

     Just then, Wolf and Sherri saw the dragons arrive just inside of the Star Stones erected on the eastern ridge of the bowl-shaped mountain. They both sighed in relief, but the moment all the dragons had appeared, one gold dragon suddenly dropped from the formation and plummeted toward the ground.

     "Oh, hell!" Sherri gasped. She and Wolf took off running to where they were coming down.

     _What's wrong? What's going on?_ Ryuu demanded.

     "Something's wrong with Lisa's dragon!" Wolf yelled as he and Sherri ran to help.

 

     _"VOITH!"_ Lisa screamed at her dragon. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

     _I'm taking you back to our weyr!_ Voith insisted. _You must not see_ THEM _!_ Nothing _is_ between _! I won't allow you to see_ THEM _! I won't take you_ between _anymore!_

     " _Voith!_ Stop this at once!" Lisa yelled. "You're going to bring Ryuu right to us!" She looked back to the rest of the formation and saw K'nebel's Firth diving down after them. "Oh shit!" she cursed.

     Voith pulled out of her dive just before they reached the ground and landed as neatly as anyone could wish for. However, Lisa was too furious to notice. She undid her riding straps and leapt down to the ground to confront her dragon, and she knew she only had seconds to get her dragon under control.

     _You're not to see_ THEM _!_ Voith screamed over her shoulder at Lisa.

     "VOITH! THAT'S _ENOUGH!_ " Lisa yelled. Glancing around to see that she was still alone for the moment with her dragon, she whirled on her queen. "I'm not the only one who can see what's _between_! Ryuu can, also! And," Lisa paused to consider her argument, "you've forgotten I told you I've heard Lioth tell all the dragons of the Weyr about Ryuu, even as he's tried to keep me from hearing it. So if anyone discovers that I can see _between_ also, everyone will be angry with us, just like they're angry at Ryuu!"

     The whirling in Voith's eyes didn't slow at all, but when she next spoke, she sounded calmer. _Nothing is_ between _, Lisa!_ _Nothing is_ between _!_

     "Alright, Voith! There is nothing in _between_!" Lisa stared into the near eye. "I didn't see anything, alright?" A gust of wind alerted her to Firth's arrival and she knew she was out of time. She hugged the golden neck and planted her face in the soft hide and willed tears to come. She sensed Voith's confusion, but even confusion was better than panic.

     "What happened, weyrling?" K'nebel called from behind.

     Lisa didn't respond immediately. Countless Turns of observing behaviors had given her an extensive repertoire. Judging the appropriate amount of time had passed--not too much, not too little--Lisa released her hold on Voith's neck, turned slowly around and stared at K'nebel's boots.

     "I'm sorry!" she said with a sob. "I'm so sorry, Weyrlingmaster!" Sob again. "I got _so_ scared! I couldn't _see_ , or _hear_ , or _feel_ anything! Not even _my dragon!_ " At this, she felt Voith prod her back with her muzzle. "And it was _so_ cold!" Lisa added and spun back around to face Voith. She couldn't tell if the support was true, or if the dragon was also getting in on the act, but Lisa was grateful regardless.

     "Yes," K'nebel said, "well, we did tell you what the experience would be like. But the experience does have to be, um, experienced firsthand," K'nebel said lamely.

     "Turn around, gold rider!" he said more forcefully. "Look at me!" he added after Lisa completed the maneuver. "Up here," he pointed at his eyes and Lisa finally met his gaze, though she kept her head lowered. "That's the worst that going _between_ will ever be! Next time, and there _will_ be a next time young lady, you will know exactly what it's like and won't be surprised again, right?"

     Lisa could hear his concern and his mounting frustration as she remained unresponsive. She averted her eyes again, but compensated with a thin smile, and felt K'nebel relax a little more.

     "You'll be alright, Lisa, just treat everything as a learning exercise, right? What did you learn from the experience?"

     Lisa gulped as she considered the appropriate response, but Voith decided her answer. "Nothing is _between_!"

     "Riiight," K'nebel drawled, "so Firth tells me." That brought a genuine smile to her face. He reached out to give her a hug. "Voith is still looking a bit faded from the fright you've given her. Get her fed and bedded down. Grab a bite for yourself, I know you missed breakfast, and then report to the barracks for more recognition drills."

     Lisa sent the dragon on ahead to the Feeding Ground and jogged after her, only too glad to be able to drop the sham. She noticed Firth staring at her intently and shuddered inwardly, but whatever the dragon had gleaned, he'd keep it to himself.

     She also noticed the dragonhealer she knew as Sherri, as well as the tall strong-looking harper she knew as Lakee standing nearby. They had rushed up shortly after K'nebel had landed, and they kept their distance while he spoke with her. She paid them little attention beyond noting their presence, and they evidently knew not to interfere with dragonrider matters.

    

On the road to Fort Hold:

     "...And then K'nebel left to direct the other dragonriders to their classroom," Wolf finished the report to Ryuu. "We left as soon as it was feasible to tell you what happened."

     _Understood_ , Ryuu responded. _You'll have to keep a close eye on things there for a while yet. Damn the bad luck that they've started training them for teleporting so soon. Have you been able to get information that T'khill will be able to use to train his native?_

     "I've made copies of their training syllabus," Sherri said. Then, with irritation, she asked, "Just what is it that's keeping you busy away from here?"

     _It's--uh--complicated_ , Ryuu sent back. There was a mischievous flavor leaking through in his mental voice.

     "Uh-huh," Sherri grunted. "And when has it _NOT_ been?"

     Wolf snorted his amusement.

     When they felt they were far enough from the Weyr, they called the _Panthro_ for transport.

 

Fort Weyr:

     Lisa returned, exhausted, to her weyr to find Voith curled in a ball with her head tucked under a wing. _Lisa, are you angry with me?_ Voith plaintively asked as Lisa tiptoed past. _I know that K'nebel was angry. I'm sorry for getting us in trouble again._ Voith raised her head in her need to be forgiven.

     "It's alright, sweet," Lisa rushed up to her queen. She soon had the huge creature crooning in pleasure from the attention she gave the eye ridges. "We're not in any trouble with K'nebel." Lisa smiled.

     _I don't understand humans. He was anxious, then angry, then concerned, while all you did was make sad noises even though you weren't sad._

     "It worked, didn't it?" Lisa said in answer, which wasn't any answer to Voith's way of thinking, and she said so. "You mean to say dragons never act? Pretend? Exaggerate? Lie?"

     _Dragons don't lie!_ Voith sounded shocked.

     "Oh? And 'Nothing is _between_ ' isn't a lie?"

     _Nothing_ ISbetween _!_ Voith insisted, pulling her head out of Lisa's reach.

     "Of course. And dragons don't lie."

     _We_ don't _lie!_ Voith maintained, but amended, _We don't lie to other_ dragons _. Humans shouldn't lie to other humans!_

     "As to that, Voith," Lisa smiled, "I'm not really a human anymore."

     _The things you say, rider!_ Voith butted her with the huge golden muzzle.

     "How can I be after all the things I can do?" she asked patting Voith's snout. "In all honesty, I really should've warned you," Lisa said when Voith gently butted her with the huge golden muzzle again. "I've always been able to see those things hidden in _between_."

     _No! No! No! You must not see_ THEM _!_ Voith instantly pleaded with her. _If_ THEY _should learn that you can see_ THEM _,_ THEY _will come here!_

     "Voith! Calm down!" Lisa told her. Taking the huge muzzle in her hands, she directed Voith to look directly at her. "Listen to me! I have _always_ known about them! From the first time I rode a dragon thousands of Turns ago, I've known about them!"

     _Lisa!_ PLEASE! _You don't know the danger!_ Voith protested.

     "I know a lot more than you think, Voith!" Lisa yelled. She stopped when she sensed her dragon wasn't listening to her anymore.

     "SHIT!" she cursed, realizing there was only one way to convince Voith and what it would cost to show her. Lisa shucked off her clothes and backed away from her dragon. "Voith, I'm going to show you something. Please don't be afraid. It doesn't hurt me, and you won't recognize me when you can see again, but it's still me!"

     Voith was blinded by the flash, but her biggest concern was that she felt Lisa had momentarily ceased to exist.

     _LISA!_ the dragon cried out. Instantly, the gold dragon felt the embrace of another dragon's wings holding her.

     _VOITH! It's me! I'm still here!_

     Voith blinked her eyes until her vision cleared. When she could see again, there stood another gold dragon before her, one not much larger than Ruth, embracing her with opaque wings, but Lisa was nowhere in sight.

     _Lisa? Where are you?_ she asked, pulling away from the embrace of this odd gold before her.

     _I'm here, Voith_ , the strange dragon said.

     _Lisa?_ Voith couldn't believe her eyes, nor the life-long bond she felt coming from this odd-looking creature.

     _Voith_ , the dragon gently began. _I've told you about_ Changing _._ This _is what it means!_ This _is what I can do._

     _Y-you lo-look just like what the others say Ryuu's dragon looks like_ , Voith said, staring at her drastically changed rider.

     _Voith_ , the dragonsaid. _That dragon Ruth saw_ IS _Ryuu! Just as_ THIS _is_ ME _!_

     _How is that possible?_ Voith wailed.

     _How can you guys go_ between _?_ Lisa laughed. Then she got serious again. _Voith, I can do more than just_ Change _between human and dragon. I can do tunnel-snake, feline, a whole host of different creatures_.

     _But you can see_ THEM _!_ Voith suddenly shouted, backing away from her rider. _That means you_ ARE THEM _!_ Voith's eyes began to flash white and yellow. _Please don't take me_ between _!_

     _VOITH!_ Lisa shouted, rushing up to embrace the larger gold in her wings. _I'm your_ rider _! I will_ NEVER _hurt you! Trust me! Please! I love you! I'm your rider! You're my dragon!_

     _You_ ARE _a dragon! You're one of_ THEM _!_ Voith cringed at Lisa's touch.

     _That doesn't' change what I feel for you!_ Lisa told her. _It doesn't change what's important for us both! You're_ my _dragon! I_ NEED _you as much as you need me! I love you as much as you love me! It's me, Voith! It's_ me _!_

     _Lisa?_ Voith asked, opening her eyes.

     _It's me, my precious darling! It's me! It's_ ME _!_ Lisa gently tightened her hug and entwined their necks, carefully positioning her snout so the tusks wouldn't scratch Voith's delicate hide.

     _But this means that Ryuu is also one of_ THEM _!_ Voith concluded after she had calmed down. _That's why he hunts you!_

     _I don't know about that,_ Lisa said, pulling away from her dragon. _If Ryuu was_ ever _truly human, I have no idea! I knew of him before_ I _got altered. I'm going to_ Change _back, now. To the way I was, Voith. Please don't worry._

     _Yes! I like you better as you are supposed to be_ , her queen said, closing her eyes to the brilliance to come.

     "What I do know is that I was born human," Lisa resumed speaking to Voith after reverting to human form. She reached out to caress her dragon's nose.

     _How do you do that?_ Voith asked, more curious than frightened this time. If her dragon was no longer panicking over her ability to _Change_ , it could only be a good sign.

     "At what point I could do this, I never knew," she replied. But then suddenly, she stiffened as her eyes glazed over.

 

February 1988, Narrows, Virginia:

     Lisa woke with a start, gasping for breath. Her dream had a very indistinct and vague warning that instantly fled the moment sunlight reached her open eyes.

     Unable to remember what it was that frightened her, but still concerned that she should be worried about something, she decided to freshen up by taking a shower.

     Then, in the middle of her shower, she felt something was definitely NOT RIGHT! She quickly rinsed off the soap from her hands and explored between her legs again, fearful of what she would find.

     The discovery slammed her against the wall of the shower stall as her legs suddenly buckled.

     "Oh, my God!" she began with a whisper and finished with a scream. "That's NOT POSSIBLE!" She hadn't been a virgin for _over four-and-a-half years!_

 

     She sat stunned on her bed for hours, wrapped only in her towel, but she had this nagging feeling that something else was wrong. Absently, she turned on the 24-hour news channel, but continued to stare off into space and not hearing what was said for several more hours as her mind tried to grasp the concept of _that_ somehow, impossibly, healing itself!

     Then, the continuous drone of the news anchor people finally pulled her attention.

     "US Navy and Coast Guard continue their search for any sign of the missing _Princess Amoré,_ which disappeared in the Atlantic, somewhere north of Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic last December. After fifty days, however, the Navy is officially calling it a recovery operation, leading to the conclusion that no hope remains of finding any survivors. A US Navy ship is also reported to have been lost in the same area at the same time, but no word was given as to why it had taken over three weeks for the Navy to reveal that fact to the public. Several news organizations, including our own, are demanding an investigation to explain this latest cover-up."

     " _Princess Amoré_?" Lisa wondered. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

     "Speculation is rampant," the reporter droned on, "that the disappearances took place near the southern edge of the area popularly known as the 'Bermuda Triangle.' The Navy is refusing to say if the vessels were actually inside the boundary when they disappeared...."

     Just then, she heard her parents coming in through the kitchen door, but she didn't go out to see them. The puzzles in her mind were just too much for her to get a grasp on them, but she couldn't let them go, either.

     "Who's there?" she heard her father suddenly shout. "Whoever you are, you better come out! I'm warning you! I've got a gun!" Lisa thought it odd that his voice seemed to be approaching her room.

     "Daddy, it's me!" she called out. _Why would he be thinking_ I _was an intruder?_ was only the least of the questions spinning about her head.

     "Lisa?" he called out, his voice having an odd tone to it.

     " _LISA?_ " she heard her mother scream. Startled, she looked up at the door in time to see her parents rush in, their eyes filled with fear. Sure enough, her father had his .45, but he held it loosely. She only had a moment for it to register.

     " **LISA!** " her mother screamed, rushing to tackle her, and they both fell onto her bed.

     "Mom?" she exclaimed, barely able to breathe from the bear hug. Her father rushed to her side.

     "Lisa! Are you alright?" he asked. Belatedly, he realized she was naked, and picked up the towel to try covering her.

     "I _was!_ " Lisa squeaked. "Mom! Get off of me! I can't breathe!"

     "Who did this to you?" her father demanded, anger creeping back into his voice.

     "Did what? What are you talking about? What's _wrong_ with you guys? _MOM!_ " she screamed.

     "Lisa!" her father said, helping to pull his wife off her and simultaneously trying to cover his daughter with the towel. "You've been gone for almost two months!"

     " _WHAT?_ " Lisa yelled in disbelief.

     "You left on that cruise ship that disappeared!" her mother blubbered out. "You and your friends from Beckley! You've been gone for over two months!"

     "Oh, my God!" she whispered in horror.

 

Fort Weyr, Present Pass, 14.5.19:

     That _was your home hold?_ Voith asked with confusion. _It is so different from the holds other dragon riders came from._

     "Y--you--you saw that?" Lisa asked astonished as she blinked her eyes. "That's so weird! It's never happened like that before!"

     _Of course I saw it. You are my rider. I am your dragon,_ Voith replied as if nothing was wrong with having shared such a vision.

     "No," Lisa protested. "I've had waking dreams, or whatever that is, but I've never been able to share those visions with anyone before!" Then she laughed. "Well, maybe that it is simply because we're Impressed, now.

     "Yes," she then answered her dragon's question. "Yes, that was where I grew up. I--I think that was when I first felt something odd about myself. Whatever it was that caused me to be able to _Change_ , it had something to do with those ships that disappeared. I was on one, and as it turned out, Ryuu was on the other."

     _Is that why he wants to hurt you?_ Voith asked plaintively. Lisa hugged her dragon's snout in despair.

     "I never knew why he wanted to kill me," she whispered. "I eventually learned that I could _Change_ and reset my age. Several of my friends could do as well and some simply never aged. As Earth reached out to the stars, we eventually drifted out among them, too.

     "I came across an alien that had similar abilities and we married," Lisa sobbed. "Then one day, Ryuu showed up to kill Syvok and he tried to kill me!

     "That's when I learned that I could be killed--permanently!" she said, fearfully hugging her dragon. "When I discovered that several of my friends had already been killed just as Syvok had been! To this day, I know of no reason _why_ he wanted me dead! All I know is that I have to get away. I need you to help me. Please, Voith. I need your help!"

     _I won't let anyone harm you, Lisa!_ Voith growled.

     "He's not like anything that you or your kind have ever seen!" she said, looking up into the orange whirling faceted orbs. "The _only_ way we can stop them is to flee!"

     _If he is like you and he can kill you, can't he be killed?_ Voith finally asked.

     "I'm sure there must be a way," she said. "Certainly, Ryuu and his allies know how, but _I don't_!"

     _Then we will run,_ Voith decided. _Maybe we can escape_ between _. We can try going to your home hold._

     "I don't think that's possible," Lisa said, shaking her head. "Four hundred Turns nearly killed Lessa and Ramoth. My home is over three _thousand_ Turns and nearly 170 light years distant. Besides that, dragons wouldn't be welcome there any more than they were in Fax's seven Holds.

     "No, dear," she sighed. "We'll have to settle for something a bit closer in time, but still far enough to evade them."

 

Elsewhere:

     Ryuu contemplated the fact that Lisa had just used the Gateway. A quick inquiry to Puma confirmed that none of the crew had used it, leading to that conclusion.

     "So why do it?" he wondered. "She must know that I would have felt it, and twice most likely means she reverted back to human form. It must have something to do with her dragon's teleporting exercises. Nothing else would make sense after all this time." Then he realized that as far as he could recall, the last time Lisa had used the Gateway was that first day in Fort, when she evaded them in the tunnels.

     "Injury? Or just showing off?" he asked aloud. "But showing off to who? Her dragon, perhaps? Why do that?"

 

Harpercraft Hall:

     Sebell balanced the tray in one hand while rapping on the door with the other, not expecting an answer but following the courtesy regardless. "I've brought you some dinner, Menolly," Sebell said as he entered the room. The fire-lizards arranged about her all lifted up their heads at the mention of food, but from Menolly there was no response aside from the vacant eyes turned toward him.

     "Menolly," Sebell began softly, but then had to stop. He set the dinner tray down on a bedside table, and set himself down on the edge of her cot, and reached out to caress her hair.

     "I killed him, Sebell." Her words were barely a whisper, but their utterance might as well have been a strident scream from the way Sebell started. "I killed Jarod. And quite possibly Ryuu, too!"

     "I know you must think so," Sebell said, trying again. "We went out to where Sh'lack found you. We searched the hold, and there was a landslide in the tunnel you told us Thella ran down. Master Nicat's miners are trying to dig the tunnel out."

     "When," Menolly whispered, "did I tell anyone about that?"

     "Master Robinton questioned you while you were still under the effects of the fellis," Sebell answered apologetically. "At last report, the miners have hit solid rock with no sign of Ryuu, or Thella," he finished with a confused shrug.

     "And Jarod?" she asked. The flatness of her question made Sebell worry even more about her state.

     "No." Sebell shook his head, and tears welled up in Menolly's eyes. "Menolly," he tried once more, "I mean we didn't find him." He took hold of her hand while he waited for her to absorb what he had said. She opened her eyes, the question clear in her expression. "He was gone," Sebell told her. "There was no sign of his body."

     "Then Ryuu took him," she guessed, then her expression brightened. "That means Ryuu lived!"

     "At least long enough to get to his dragon, perhaps," Sebell agreed. "But--" and Sebell knew things were about to get weird, "but we couldn't find where Jarod must have fallen."

     " _What?_ " Menolly asked, astonished. She suddenly sat up.

     "No blood. No disturbed ground," Sebell told her, and her face began registering increasing incredulity to what he was saying. "We found your knife where you said Ryuu tossed it from the trail and over the cliff, and the ones Thella owned, where you said Ryuu threw them, but no sign of where Jarod should have fallen. No sign of a dragon landing there. Nothing. It's as if--as if--Jarod had gone _between_ before he hit the ground."

     Sebell was startled by her sudden short burst of laughter. "He _did_ it!" she whooped. The girl was delirious, Sebell decided. "I'm _not_ delirious, Sebell! Don't you see? I asked Sh'lack to time it and catch him!" Sebell ached to follow up on this new lead, but didn't dare leave her in such a state. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she chanted, hugging him.

     "None of the Fort Weyr riders have reported such a rescue, Menolly," Sebell said cautiously, "which isn't to say it didn't happen! Or won't happen," he added as Menolly slowly released him. "Jarod might have his reasons for wanting to remain hidden."

     "Oh, if he's alive and hiding," Menolly fumed, "I'm going to kill him!"

     "I'd say that's a very good reason for him to remain hidden, then," making her laugh in agreement.

     There was a soft knock at the door, and they barely had time to put some appropriate distance between themselves before it opened. It was Lakee.

     "Is she okay?" he quietly asked, but then he saw that she was awake and alert. "Oh, I should let you--"

     "It's alright," Menolly smiled up at him. Sebell was a little annoyed at the interruption. He felt a stab of jealousy, but only just a twinge. Lakee was quite large and handsome, and he could probably charm any girl he wished if he wanted to, but he had always been professional whenever Sebell could see. Certainly the expression of concern on his face seemed genuine.

     "I heard about what happened," Lakee began. "Are you okay?"

     "I'm really sorry about Jarod," Menolly said, and Sebell looked at her sharply, worried that she would fall back into her state.

     "Yes," Lakee quietly replied, dropping his gaze. "That was pretty bad, but Master Robinton is still holding out hope. We all are. I'm really surprised that he would try and confront Ryuu like that."

     "I thought you were going back up to the Weyr," Sebell spoke up after an uncomfortable silence.

     "I am," Lakee said. "I just wanted to stop by and see how she was doing."

     "What's going on?" Menolly asked, puzzled by the exchange. "Weren't you at the Weyr yesterday?"

     "I was there this morning," Lakee laughed. "I brought down last night's distance viewer observations, and Robinton passed me Ryuu's latest song."

     "Master Robinton's _still_ going along with whatever nefarious plan he's trying to hatch?" Menolly asked, astonished.

     Another quiet knock sounded at the door. This time, it was the MasterHarper.

     "Lakee?" he asked in surprise.

     "I was just looking in to see how she was doing, MasterHarper," Lakee apologized. "She's up and alert. I'll be going now."

     "I don't want you to abuse the privilege of going back and forth adragonback," Robinton told him.

     "Not to worry, MasterHarper," Lakee said. "Transportation was already arranged. Actually, I have to do the waiting." Robinton hummed as he considered whether to respond to that.

     "Hold on a moment!" Menolly called out. "MasterHarper? You're letting _another_ one of Ryuu's songs leak out? After what happened last night?"

     "It's not like we can stop them from getting out if we wanted to, Menolly," Robinton apologized. "You know that! And it's not like they're teaching ballads. I have to admit they're not bad songs. Almost as good as yours."

     "And almost as popular," Sebell added with some disgust.

     "Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way about him!" she complained.

     "There's a message he's sending out to whomever it is that he's trying to reach," Robinton said, shrugging his shoulders in defeat. "I _know_ there's a hidden message, some kind of code! I've been poring over this one for the last sevenday, but if there's anything there, it's as cleverly hidden as in all the others! But you know if I sit on this any longer, Ryuu will just forge my approval and get this distributed anyhow. He's done it before!"

     "But, MasterHarper! We know he's dangerous!" Menolly protested. "What if the person is purposely running from him for a reason?"

     "All we can hope is that we find her first," Robinton sighed.

     "That's why we always ask the audience if this music has some special meaning to them, that they contact us," Lakee said.

     "And this makes, what? Number six?" she asked.

     "Six in addition to the one--" Sebell began, but then stopped, mindful of Lakee's presence. "To the one he wrote over your tuning," he finished. Menolly shook her head in exasperation.

     "Would you like to hear it?" Robinton inquired. Sebell tensed. He knew that she was developing a strong dislike for Ryuu, but on the other hand, she admitted the music he sent them was very good. He could tell that she was struggling with the desire to hear it.

     "Sure," she finally whispered. "Like you said, one way or another, the songs will show up. I might as well hear them up front before I fall in love with them and _then_ learn where they came from." Sebell breathed a sigh of relief.

     "Of course," Robinton chuckled. "I see Sebell already has his gitar here. Lakee, would you get an oboe and a pair of drumsticks for me?"

     "Of course, MasterHarper," Lakee said, slipping out the door.

     "So what name is Ryuu signing it off to, this time?" Menolly asked as they waited for the big journeyman to return.

     "DeGamo," Sebell replied.

     "DeGarmo," Robinton corrected him. She shook her head.

     "Neither sounds like anything I've ever heard," she complained. Sebell and Robinton concurred. Lakee soon returned with the instruments, as well as a couple of bound wood pulp sheets with the music. He handed the sticks to the MasterHarper. Then, to Menolly's surprise, Lakee traded the oboe to Sebell for his gitar.

     "There's a very strong emotive element to this song," Sebell said, shrugging his shoulders. "Master Robinton says Lakee's got a better sense of where to sing it."

     "Sorry!" Lakee grinned, also shrugging his shoulders.

     Lakee started with the chords, and Sebell could tell the tune quickly seeped past Menolly's defenses and reached her heart. Instantly, her fair became excited, and Sebell heard Kimi say that the others knew this music. Then Lakee began singing with his light baritone voice and three of Menolly's fire-lizards and Zair added their humming. Sebell noted that they were the same ones whom Menolly said had been lost during the storm.

 

          _Hush now, don't you cry,_

          _Wipe away the teardrop from your eye._

 

          _You're lying safe in bed,_

          _It was all a bad dream spinning (in your head)._

 

          _Your mind tricked you to feel the pain,_

          _Of someone close to you leaving the game (of life)._

 

          _So here it is, another chance,_

          _wide-awake you face the day._

          _The dream is over...._

 

     "Or has it just begun?" Lakee suddenly asked in a low voice, out of the song.

 

     Menolly looked to Robinton in surprise at that stated passage, but he gave no indication of there being anything wrong. Then the Masterharper and Sebell joined in with their instruments. Master Robinton, not having any real drums, used his sticks to tap the beat on the nightstand beside Menolly's bed while Sebell kept watch on Menolly as the song progressed....

     Even though Sebell had practiced it several times over the last few days, and when the fire-lizards eagerly added their voices, it never failed to have a strong impact upon him. He wondered just how Menolly would take it. Robinton had said that he was reluctant about letting her hear it, knowing how she felt about Ryuu, and he was quite surprised that the MasterHarper so quickly agreed to this impromptu performance.

     At the song's conclusion, Menolly was speechless for several minutes, and tears had fallen, soaking her tunic. Beauty and Diver quickly began licking her face. She coughed when she tried to speak, and then tried again.

     "That's so incredible," she whispered. Gulping back more tears, she then added, "I wonder--"

     "What?" Robinton prompted when she didn't finish.

     "If he--it's as if--as if the song was meant for me," she hoarsely got out. They looked at her with incredulity. "As if he--knew what sort of nightmare he was about to put me through," she added, looking up at them, hoping they wouldn't think her crazy.

     "You think he knew what was going to happen--?" Robinton began and then stopped. Sebell watched his master's face expressing shocked realization. Glancing at Menolly, he saw the same expression was on her face, too.

     "If he's a renegade harper from the future, then why not?" Menolly exclaimed.

     "Then, is he telling us that everything will be alright?" Sebell asked. "What about Jarod?"

     "Maybe it was Ryuu who caught him, or maybe it will be Sh'lack," Menolly said, showing her confusion.

     "But can we afford to be patient with him?" Sebell asked. Robinton shrugged as well. Lakee simply watched.

 

On the road to Fort Weyr:

     "Ryuu!" Wolf barked as soon as he was sure that he was alone.

     _Ryuu's not in at the moment,_ he got as a response. _Please leave your name and number and a brief message--_

     "Ryuu!  Remind me to kick your ass!"

     _Count on it!  I could use a good ass kicking,_ came the reply.

     "Do these colonists mean anything to you at all?"

     _What's wrong?_

     "I just received the copy of 'Silent Lucidity'," Wolf told him. "I had the opportunity to play it for that girl student of Robinton's."

     _How'd she like it?_ Ryuu asked.

     "She was devastated!" Wolf snapped.

     _She's not feeling inadequate, is she?_ Ryuu inquired.

     "No," Wolf admitted. "But she now has the idea that you intended the message for her! I thought these songs were supposed to stimulate Lisa! Just _what_ were you thinking, pulling that stunt with Jarod?" he yelled.

     _Yes._

     "'Yes,' _what?_ " Wolf howled. "Is that the message is for Menolly? Or Lisa?

     _Yes,_ Ryuu repeated. Wolf growled his annoyance.

     "I'm not going to get a straight answer from you, am I?" he demanded.

     _You just got one._

     " _AAAHHH!_ " Wolf screamed. "You know I really _hate_ it when you do that!"

     _Good._

     "Look. We know where Lisa is! Let's just grab her, grab her pet dragon, and be rid of this planet!"

     _You know that that's impossible, Wolf,_ Ryuu replied. _The danger is simply too great! It takes_ Panthro _several horonds to raise Temporal and Psionic shields after transport, and_ a single horond _is all she and her enhanced native would need to bolt off the ship! If we spook her, we might never find her again, especially if her 'pet' takes her through time. Or worse, she might end up stuck in that_ between _dimension. And don't forget, we have to do this extraction with minimal impact on this colony._

     ""Minimal Impact' you call it?" Wolf snorted. "As I recall, you gave Arye, Puma and me quite a hard time at last year's festival selling dragon sculptures and chocolates. But _you_ now have over half the planet hunting for our hides, _you_ have been dropping music on their laps willy-nilly, _you_ have been interfering with their law enforcement to pursue your own agenda, _you_ had us do a phaser barrage on the debris falling on this planet, and on top of everything else, _you_ have managed to Fly, what? Three dozen of these dragons by now?"

     _HEY!_ Ryuu protested. _I only did_ five _of the unenhanced natives, and they all consented!_

     "And the rest of the points I made?" Wolf barked back.

     _Those are all Standard Operating Procedures,_ Ryuu happily replied. _You know that!_

     "Stand--?" Wolf sputtered. " _Panthro!_ " he then shouted into his communicator badge. "Get me the hell out of here!"

 

Elsewhere:

     Ryuu thought about his conversation with Wolf. Tears began flowing down his cheek, and he eagerly allowed the flashback to consume him. It was, he recalled, shortly before he encountered Yoko or Sherri....

 

Chicago, 1990:

     The Dragon was well satisfied, having taken a huge bite out of the organized crime families. A few more years like this, and they might never recover....

     As he reviewed the reports on his computer, Dragon listened to music to relax. _One day, I'm going to have to see what can be done to bring these things up to a usable monitor,_ he thought to himself. _It'd be nice to have this garbage in color... some pictures, maybe...?_

     A new song came on the radio, and he paused to listen. It had such compelling lyrics--

 

          _There's a place I like to hide,_

          _A doorway that I run through in the night_

          _Relax child, you were there_

          _But only didn't realize, and you were scared._

 

          _It's a place where you will learn_

          _To face your fears_

          _Retrace the years and ride the whims of your mind!_

 

          _Commanding in another world_

          _Suddenly you hear and see this magic new dimension!_

 

     Then the chorus hit!

 

          _I........will be watching over you_

          _I........am gonna help to see you through_

          _I........will protect you in the night_

          _I........am smiling next to you_

          _In silent lucidity_

 

 

     The shock of it hammered his heart! He had nearly screamed out along with the song, and only just barely managed to hold his composure.

     He found himself suddenly struggling to maintain his breathing, struggling just to keep from lashing out to destroy the place! Dragon's pulse was racing now and his vision had shifted to where he could suddenly see what must have been energy fields surrounding every object in the room, looking so much like the pattern iron filings would take around magnets! Only there were magnets _everywhere!_ _And he was one of them!_ He trembled, and just barely managed to hold himself in place.

     _What the hell is going on?_ Dragon thought. It wasn't a panic attack, it wasn't a sudden rage overtaking him. He wasn't sure, but he didn't think he was suffering an epileptic attack, for he had had several victims of his anti-drug activities who suffered epilepsy and he had vicariously experienced them using his telepathy. This wasn't anything like any of those.

     But somehow, he did feel trapped. As if the song held him ensnared--a snare that he had helplessly stumbled into, and even more helplessly, was impotent to fight his way free of! And as the song continued, and he was helpless but to succumb to its magic....

     He broke free of it only momentarily to use a wing to smash the radio when the song finished, before the noise from the announcer could drive away the tremendous emotions that the music drove his soul with. The spell hadn't released him yet-- _MOREOVER, HE DIDN'T_ WANT _THAT FEELING TO RELEASE HIM!_ Desperate, he held on to the memory of the song, replaying it in his mind. His breathing and heart still raced, but suddenly, his limbs could no longer support his weight. Then, as he collapsed to the ground, it felt as though his body lying there couldn't even support the weight of his spine!

     Feeling so weak, he used his remaining strength to push his right arm to where he could look at it, and he saw lightning dancing over his hide! Confused, he somehow managed to leap away, crashing down upon the furniture holding his computers, and suddenly, the memory of the music slipped from his mind.

     In that instant, the spell was broken and whatever mysterious force that assaulted him had fled, and he felt his strength slowly return....

     _What the flaming fuck was_ that _?_ he yelled shaking his head to clear it as he staggered back to his feet.

     It was very strange. On the one hand, it felt as though he had the power to destroy the planet! On the other, some force was exerting every bit as much energy to keep him from doing so! And he felt helpless in the middle of those two extremes, and it was _his_ energy they were _both_ feeding upon!

     Fortunately, he was quickly recovering, but he was at a complete loss to explain it to himself.

     As soon as he could, he intended to have his friends, Bill and Sherry Bennett, give him a complete physical. _Something_ caused that inexplicable surge of power and sudden weakness afterward, and he needed to know what it was _fast_!

 

Pern, Present Pass, 14.5.19:

     Ryuu sighed as he recovered from the flashback, recalling how that had been the wakening of his ability to tap into and utilize the emotions that music induced into his combat skills.

     "I just hope that song wakes up the right memories in Lisa!" he shuddered. "Otherwise, we are all so screwed!"

 

Fort Weyr:

     "I just hope these songs soothe him down," J'gun said to Lisa, nodding toward K'nebel, "otherwise, we are all so screwed!"

     The morning lessons had not gone well. While Voith appeared frightened to travel through _between_ , Achorrath seemed only too eager. When K'nebel had dismissed the flight, Achorrath had promptly winked _between_ back to the barracks, having decided that method of travel was much easier than flying. That of course had sent K'nebel into a frenzy. Both he and Firth lit into the pair admonishing them on the dangers of such stunts. They both got a repeat lesson about the young dragon and rider who had been found entombed in solid rock as a result of a bad visualization. In addition, they got a week's extra duty on Watch, with dire threats of more to follow when K'nebel said he could calm down enough to think of something. That had only taken the last two hours of the day.

     Lisa smiled sympathetically but was at a loss as to how to cheer him up. All too often, it had been J'gun who tried to cheer her up when something went wrong with Voith's training. Instead, she concentrated on the eerily familiar music the harpers were playing for the after-dinner crowd.

     It had been fortunate that Jarod had warned her that, because of the way Ryuu could spread songs throughout Pern, regardless of Robinton's wishes, Robinton had decided it wasn't worth the effort to try to block them. Instead, the MasterHarper was trying to decipher the hidden meanings in the music.

     "The poor man is losing all the color from his hair trying to figure out Ryuu's riddles," Jarod had told her months ago.

     "I'm sorry, but those songs don't mean much to me, either," she told him later when he inquired about them. "They were songs the harpers played when I was growing up," she somewhat-truthfully told him. "But they don't have any special meaning to me. And I sure have no interest in tracking Ryuu down to ask him why he's sending me those particular songs!"

     The truth was, however, quite different. Those songs dredged up memories. Lots of vivid, detailed, and disturbing memories!

     This latest one that the strong-looking journeyman harper played was exceptionally disturbing. At first, she had difficulty recognizing it. But then Lakee and the Weyr harpers reached the chorus and suddenly she remembered! Then her eyes began to glaze.

 

40 Eridani Alpha, 2565 years ago:

     "Lisa?" the sing-song call sounded out again.

     Lisa's breath caught at the nearness of the voice, and she crouched as low as she could in the shadows of the cupboard. Even though she couldn't see him, she could _feel_ him getting ever closer. Fortunately, with all of the noise he was making, she didn't need to see him to avoid him. Every time he called out, he gave away his position.

     "Lisa?" the call came again, more urgently this time. She knew she was trapped. It was only a matter of time, Lisa realized, before she was discovered, and then they'd kill her, just like they had killed Syvok!

     "Lisa? I know you're here! Why make this so much harder on yourself?"

     A grimace tugged at her mouth and Lisa risked a quick glance. He was well inside the room now, and though it was difficult to see in the dim light and through the grill of the cupboard door, she could just make out that he had his back to her. Lisa's pulse quickened as she suddenly realized what she must do. Steeling her resolve, she repositioned her legs from a crouch into a sprinter's stance, and drew a deep breath.

     "You know, I _remember_ you!" the brute called out, apparently missing the fact the cupboard's door was just big enough for her to slip through, but fortunately, it was deceptively deeper than it looked, going beyond the countertop and well back into the wall. However, she saw that his random searching brought him close to the entrance to the room again, and she had to abandon her idea of making a run for it.

     "Oh, yes! I remember you all too well! I'll have to thank Allec properly next time we get together!"

     _Allec?_ she paused to think, tried to recall. _Allec--Trevar? But--he--never--came back in 1988! NO! NO! NO! 1984! 1988 was our best guess as to when_ we _were altered! Allec had left our association_ years _before that! So how did_ he _get mixed up in this?_

     "Do you remember Ben? Ben Jordan?" the murderous hulk called out. Another name from her past!

     Despite their breakup centuries ago, Ben and Lisa had still remained friends. As Peg had said, he wasn't a bad sort other than being a lecherous person. They all still kept in touch even though they now lived light years apart....

     "Oh, Ben _still_ remembered _you_! Quite fondly, I can tell you!" he yelled from where he stood in the hallway, waiting for a sign of her presence to direct him.

     "Now Ben was quite the naughty guy! Rather the pity. His taste in women was much like my own!" The kitchen now. She would have gone now, but for the fact she sensed another. This one was keeping very silent. Had she not adopted Syvok's native form, with the superior hearing that came with it, she might very well have blundered right into his arms!

     "And you were _quite_ the tasty morsel! Both figuratively and literally! He was your first, wasn't he? Of course he was! That _was_ before we were all taken and changed by those monsters!" He was coming back up the hallway toward her hiding space.

     "Well, you see, I got Ben's memories when I killed him! _All of them!_ So, you see, I've already tasted you, too! And I'm looking forward to doing so again!"

     Lisa was stunned. _Ben was dead?_

     Then she finally understood how it was that they found her. Through Ben's memories!

     _Oh, my God!_ she thought. _How many others have these two killed? Was Allec one of them? But no one ever saw him again after that day in Beckley! How could he have been altered when he wasn't with those of us who were?_

     "And Ben was quite put out with Allec telling you about him so many years ago! But Allec, here, certainly appreciates the irony and thanked me for killing him!" She heard him fondly slap the silent one's shoulders. They were just outside the door again.

     _My God!_ Lisa gasped. _Does he mean that Allec is_ here _? That_ other _one here is_ Allec _?_

     "It's rather a pity I killed your elf, Syvok, so soon!" the big brute continued to taunt. "If I had waited another year, then the memories I absorbed from him would've allowed me to taste you twice over before the two of us actually got to meet flesh-to-flesh, so to speak!" He reentered the room, coming closer to her hiding spot.

     "But I guess I'll just have to settle for what I can get from you _right now_ \--!" There was a sudden loud crash just outside the cupboard that shattered her concealment.

     " _LISA! RUN!_ "

     She didn't have to wait to identify _that_ voice! It was one of her snake-like companions! They had arrived!

     She rushed out from the space, amid flaring ray beams and explosions, ran past where the silent one had been standing, but a smoking hole was all that remained where her companions had blasted him through the wall! She paused for a second, trying to peer into the darkness.

     She wanted to confirm it! To confirm that is was Allec, but her vision was ruined by a tremendous bright flare coming from the gaping hole. The kind of flare that could _only_ come from someone who could _Change_! And that could only mean that Allec had been altered, too, somehow!

     " _LISA! GET OUT OF HERE!_ "

     With her heart catching in her throat, she ran blindly down the passageway, the memory of her home the only thing guiding her. She ran past the charred headless corpse of her husband, Syvok, and ran out into the night. And she never stopped running....

 

Fort Weyr, Present Pass, 14.5.19:

     It was the same memory that had resurfaced that night her companions reported the alien's arrival, the same memory that had prompted that uncontrolled nightmare a full Turn ago and caused her to frighten all the dragons in the Weyr. This time, however, she wasn't frightened--she was angry.

 

     "Visualize your dream," Lakee said, as part of the song's spoken lyrics. "Record it in the present tense, and put it into a permanent form. If you persist in all your efforts, you can achieve dream control...

     "...dream control...

     "...dream control...."

 

          _If you open your mind for me_

          _You won't rely on open eyes to see._

 

          _The walls you built within_

          _Come tumbling down and a new world will begin!_

 

          _Living twice at once you learn_

          _You're safe from pain in the dream domain_

          _A soul set free to fly._

 

          _A round trip journey in your head_

          _Master of illusion!_

          _Can you realize?_

          _Your dream's alive!_

          _You can be the guide!_

          _But..._

          _I........will be watching over you_

          _I........am gonna help to see you through_

          _I........will protect you in the night_

          _I........am smiling next to you_

 

     She well remembered that song, "Silent Lucidity" that Lakee and the Weyrharpers were playing. It was one of the few songs from Earth that Syvok found aesthetically pleasing.

     _And Ryuu thought he could fish me out with_ that _particular song?_

     "Wrong bait, asshole!" she cursed through wiping away her tears. It puzzled her, but only slightly, why that song brought up the memory when her conversation with Voith about the same incident had not.

     Once she was able to slip away from the concert, she ran to her weyr, where Voith had been soaking up the last rays of the sun on her ledge. The queen dragon looked ready to fight as Lisa approached.

     _What is wrong?_ Voith demanded. _You are so sad and angry!_

     "Ryuu!" she spat the name with all the disgust she could muster. She rushed to bury her face in Voith's golden neck and wept.

 

Terra, 2554 years ago:

     "So, he's finally revealed his true colors. And this time, to everyone!" Lisa spat, seeing the images of León Drachen posted on the left side monitor. Starfleet command had issued warrants for his arrest on charges of murder and piracy. One picture was of how he last looked, another showing him without the long, shoulder-length hair, the Fu-Manchu style mustache and goatee, and long wild sideburns.

     On her right side monitor, Lisa stared at the report dredged up from centuries ago. It was part of the crew roster of the _USS Josephus Daniels_ , a US Navy ship that had vanished the same day and in the same location as the _Princess Amoré_. She had selected and displayed all information about ET2 Allec Reny Trevar. Status was "Missing, presumed dead." And his picture was a match for the one on file in Starfleet for Commodore Drachen.

     "Can we be certain that he was there on Vulcan?" one of her companions asked. "That he was one of the people who killed Syvok? When I fired on the brute's companion, his back was to me."

     "Oh, yes! That was him!" Lisa replied without hesitation. "I was a psychology major, remember? He, and that unknown hulking brute who helped him!

     "We've _all_ become monsters!" she wept. "And Allec has become the _worst of us all!_ "

     "Where can we go, mistress?" the other asked.

     "We'll need help in making sure he can never find us," she told them.

     "Do you know anyone we can turn to, mistress?"

     "Yes," she slowly said after considering the problem. "Get me contact with Kitti Ping!"

 

Fort Weyr, Present Pass, 14.5.19:

     "Ryuu!" Lisa spat again. "Or whatever you want to call yourself! Allec Trevar, I _hate_ you!"

 


End file.
